


Nothing Ever Stays Okay

by Corporal_Levi25



Category: DCU, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Rollercoaster, Eventual Happy Ending, Experimental Powers, Maybe - Freeform, OOC characters, Redemption?, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-07
Updated: 2019-03-06
Packaged: 2019-11-13 03:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 45,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18023627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corporal_Levi25/pseuds/Corporal_Levi25
Summary: Sequel to Deathstroke’s Renegade. Richard has finally gotten free of the criminal life Deathstroke forced him into. Everything was great. Until the Court of Owls appeared and screwed everything up for him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, a lot of you wanted the sequel. Here it is. Please tell me what you think. I know it’s a little out of character, but maybe you guys will enjoy it. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Richard, Wally, and Artemis were sitting on the couch in the mountain base, debating on watching Attack On Titan or Supernatural. 

“Dude, AOT is the bomb. Supernatural is awesome as well, but it’s an older episode.” Richard debated.

“Sam and Dean are eye candy though.” Artemis argued.

“That’s the only reason you want to watch Supernatural?” Wally asked, feigning betrayal. 

“I like you, Wally, but Jared Padalecki over you any day.” Artemis replied.

“A Choice With No Regrets is on! Please! Levi is like the most awesome character! I need to know his backstory! I need to know how Levi and Erwin met!” Richard exclaimed.

The other two looked at each other and gave in. The three watched the episode and the couple watched as their ‘younger brother’ watched, completely intrigued. 

**_Robin, report to the mission room._ ** Batman’s voice sounded.

“Ughhhh, they just met! No fair!” Richard whined, but walked into the mission room and standing before his mentor and the other Leaguers.

“They just met. I so ship it.” Richard said. Batman seemed to understand what he was talking about and nodded.

“Robin-” The man started.

“Levi was a thug living in the Underground and -”

“Robin-.” Batman interrupted. 

“Shh, Erwin came down and caught him, both were using 3DMG, and they made a deal. Levi would join the corps and wouldn’t be charged for his crimes.” Robin said. 

“Robin.” Batman said sternly.

“I didn’t get to see what happened after that.” Robin said, a bit of sadness in his tone. “Anyway, what is the League doing here? Something major going on? Why is everyone so serious?”  _ Ha, why so serious?  _

“Robin, Deathstroke has disappeared from Gotham Institution.” Batman said, returning the seriousness of the situation. 

Robin’s shock must’ve been evident because Batman went into a deep explanation. Robin didn’t hear it though, he had too many thought racing through his mind.  _ He’s going to find me. There’s nothing I can do to stop him. Wait, how did he escape?  _

“How?” Robin said, interrupting Batman. “He was paralyzed! How did he escape?!” Robin questioned, panic and anger lining his tone.

“We all forgot about his healing factor, and we suspect that he had help from the outside.” Black Canary said gently.

Robin mentally slapped himself.  _ Deathstroke and I had an argument about giving me a healing factor because he has one.  _

“How many are dead?” Robin asked, his voice quiet.

“Almost all the guards. Those who aren’t dead are in critical condition.” Batman informed. 

The League could see the boy blaming himself for the guards deaths. 

“There’s no way we could’ve stopped this, no way we could’ve known.” Black Canary tried.

“If I had killed him, those guards would still be alive! I could’ve stopped this! I should’ve killed that bastard.” Robin’s voice went from yelling to a soft voice.

“Murder is never the answer, Robin.” Wonder Woman said sternly.

“In this case, it is!” Robin yelled. “And who would help him?!”

“Robin, calm down.” Batman said gently.

“Calm down?! My tormentor is free and someone is helping him! How can I calm down?!” Robin yelled again, his yelling had caught the attention of Wally and Artemis.

“Robin, I know you’re scared and panicking, but we won’t let Deathstroke anywhere near you.” Batman said, trying to calm the boy down.

Robin took a few deep breaths and turned off his emotions.

“Do we know where he is? Who’s helping him?” Robin asked monotoned. 

“No. We have a few ideas, but nothing solid.” Green Arrow answered.

“He wouldn’t work with any villain, it would be an organization.” Robin said.

“That narrows it down.” Superman said.

“He wouldn’t work with just any organization, it would be a strong, skilled one.” Robin mentioned.

“What organizations do we know of that fit the profile?” Green Lantern questioned.

“League of Assassins.” Artemis said from the doorway. 

Her and Wally were standing in the doorway. Artemis was leaning to the left and Wally was standing behind her. Silence enveloped the room as they stalled for ideas.

“Is that really all we can think of? Come on, we have a genius in the room!” Green Arrow exclaimed, gesturing to Batman.

“The Light.” Robin suggested. 

“What do you know about them?” Canary questioned.

“I’ll put together a file.” Robin said, nodding to Batman.

“The Injustice League.” Flash offered after a few minutes of thinking.

“No, they’re too disorganized.” Robin and Batman said at the same time.

“What about that rumor? The one you were worried about?” Superman asked Batman.

The question caused Batman and Robin looked at each other.

“What rumor?” Red Arrow questioned.

“The Court Of Owls.” Batman answered.

“What’s the Court Of Owls?” Wonder Woman asked.

“It’s an organization me and Robin have been investigating. We have almost nothing on them, though. They’re only rumored for a reason. We only have traces of their existence, no solid evidence.” Batman explained.

“But we think there’s hidden meaning in their...song.” Robin trailed.

“Song?” Wonder Woman asked.

“Beware The Court of Owls, that watches all the time, ruling Gotham from a shadow perch, behind granite and lime. They watch you at your hearth, they watch you in your bed, speak not a whispered word of them or they'll send The Talon for your head.” Robin said.

“We have a theory about how they watch and know if anyone says a word about them. There are cameras almost in every building and at least two on every building. They could be receiving video and audio feed from them at all times.” Batman said.

“As for the granite and lime part, every building in Gotham has granite and/or lime. We’ve crossed out all building with only granite or lime, but their are still over thousands in our list.” Robin added.

“So you two are nowhere with the Court.” Flash said.

“Ultimately, no, but we have some promising leads.” Batman answered. 

The conversation was interrupted by a message pinging on the Bats’ comms. Robin looked his forearm and read the sender line.  _ Catwoman? _ He exchanged a glance with Batman.

“We’ll inform you when we actually have something solid.” Robin said, pulling on Batman’s arm, and walking towards the zeta tubes.

“Where are you going?” Superman questioned.

“Gotham.” Robin replied.

* * *

 

Batman and Robin were perched on the top of Wayne Enterprises. They were waiting for Catwoman. The woman had said she wanted to talk to them.  _ Where is she?  _ Robin paced across the roof.

“She should be here by now.” Robin muttered.

“You never were patient.” Catwoman purred.

Robin and Batman looked at her. She looked rough. Her suit had a couple tears in it, and she was panting a little bit.

“What happened? Who’s after you?” Robin asked, concern lining his voice.

“The Court Of Owls. They sent a Talon after me. Luckily, I lost him...it. Those Talons are monsters.” Catwoman said.

“Is that what you wanted to talk about? The Court?” Robin questioned. 

Catwoman was aware of the Bats mission to find the Court. She had given them some of the intel they had, and she helped form their theories. Selina was nothing if not resourceful.

“Yes. I have an interesting rumor I wanted to share with you. The word is Deathstroke has joined them, and the only reason that is, is because Renegade has family connections in the Court.” Catwoman said, never taking her eyes off Robin.

“What? I don’t have any other family.” said Robin, confusion in his tone.

“I’m not saying you do, I’m just telling you what I’m hearing on the streets.” Catwoman defended. She did feel sorry for the boy. His life was truly the most unfair thing she’s ever heard of.

“The Talon that came after you, are you sure you lost him?” Batman entered the conversation.

“Well, he kind of just disappeared…” Catwoman answered.

“That doesn’t mean you lost me, Selina Kyle.” A new, rough voice came from under them.

At the edge of Wayne Enterprises, a man was raising himself up onto the roof, all lithe muscle and unnatural fluidity. When he stood, Robin could see that he was dressed in heavy, black armor with silver designs that looked like feathers, and covering his face was a mask. The mask was black with silver lines that almost formed the eyes of an owl where it was pointed. 

“The Court dislikes those who know things they shouldn’t. Much less when the pest spreads that knowledge.” The Talon growled.

The Talon lunged forward with a knife, going for Selina. Robin acted quickly. He placed himself between Catwoman and the Talon and raised his arm, allowing the knife to sink in his flesh with a slight grunt.  _ This is nothing! _ Robin grinned at the Talon. 

“Robin!” Catwoman cried. 

Batman sprinted forwards and delivered a forceful kick to the Talons face, loosening the grip on the knife. Robin pulled away and grabbed the handle of the knife, turning as he yanked it out and wielded it. Batman and the Talon began trading punches and kicks, some hitting and others narrowly missing. Robin joined the fight by stabbing the Talon in his outstretched leg. He came in close and slammed the assassin's head down on his knee. As the Talon began to get up, Batman gave Catwoman his grappling gun.

“Get to safety. Contact the League.” He ordered. 

Hesitantly, Catwoman nodded and left.

“Telling my prey to flee, how cowardly.” The Talon commented.

The two heros just glared and rushed forwards. Batman went low and Robin went high. Robin jumped into the air and dealt a hard kick to to the Talons jaw, Batman punched the man’s stomach. The Talon simply stood, jerking only slightly at the hits. His head was facing the right from the force of Robin’s kick. Yet, he laughed and looked at them. 

“That the best you can do?” He taunted as he armed himself with another knife.

He smirked as he lunged forwards and slashed at the two heroes. Robin jumped and flipped away from the knife as Batman was dodging and side stepping. The man kept himself blocked and cut Robin and Batman in various places.  _ If I could just get an opening, I can attack.  _ Robin began side stepping and flipping.  _ I’m getting tired. An opening needs to come fast.  _ The Talon showed no signs of weakening his defense.  _ Fine. I’ll make one.  _ Robin quit dodging and lunged forwards. The Talon swiftly kicked him in the side and sent him flying across the roof. Robin rolled and slid off the edge but caught himself. He clung to the roof with one hand, swinging slightly, teeth gritted in effort and frustration.

“Robin!” Batman yelled. 

The yell was followed by a pained sound. Robin frantically swung up and onto the roof and took in the scene in front of him. The Talon had his hand flush with the middle of Batman’s chestplate. Batman was hunched over the hand, gloved hands reaching up in weak resistance. Robin only processed the knife as it twisted and a sickening sound echoed in the night. Batman groaned, and the Talon slowly pulled the knife, making sure Batman felt it and Robin saw it. Blood soaked the knife and immediately started flowing from the wound as Batman stumbled back and fell to his knees then to his side. Robin yelled in anger and was about to attack the Talon, but the assassin was gone. Robin stood there for a few seconds, panting in slight shock. Then his fright and urgency slammed into his mind and he ran to Batman’s slumped form.

“Bruce, I’m going to turn you over.” He told the bleeding hero.

Batman groaned slightly as Robin turned him on his back. An alarmingly large pool of blood had formed around them.  _ I have to stop the bleeding.  _ Robin put tore off a large piece of his cape and  hovered over the wound.

“This is going to hurt.” He warned and applied pressure to the stab wound.

Batman gave a small cry but didn’t lurch or thrash.  _ Not good, he’s not feeling the pain. _ His eyes closed.

“Hey, hey, no! Don’t go to sleep. I need you here! Now!a Stay awake!” Robin tried to order. 

_ Where’s the League?!  _ Robin shakily raised a hand and clicked his ear piece.

**_“Robin to League. Robin to League.”_ ** Robin said frantically.

**_“League.”_ ** A voice said. Robin was too panicked to care who answered.

**_“I need some fucking help! Where hell are you!?”_ ** He yelled, not caring about his language as tears threatened to spill.

**_“Two minutes out.”_ **

**_“Batman doesn’t have two minutes! I need medical! Now!”_ ** Robin yelled again, tears falling from his face.

**_“Manhunter and Canary are on their way. Hold on.”_ **

It felt like hours before Manhunter and Canary got there. Canary pried Robin off Batman and let Manhunter take over. The League finally arrived after a few minutes and hastily loaded Batman into Miss Martian’s bioship. Robin boarded the ship and sat and watched as the medically trained Leaguers worked on his mentor. He watched, not reacting to anything, but let his tears fall silently. They arrived at Mount Justice in almost eight minutes, eight long minutes. Robin began to panic as they started moving Batman from the safety of his sight. The Leaguers rushed Batman into surgery. Red Arrow and Artemis had to hold Robin back and keep him out of the operating room. Finally, Robin collapsed to his knees and silently cried. 

“Robin?” Red Arrow questioned as he went slack in the teens arms.

“He can’t die.” Robin said quietly, more tears welling up in his eyes. “I don’t want to be alone.”

“He won’t die. He’s Batman.” Artemis supplied. 

Robin glared at her.

“He’s human. Just like us. Just because he’s Batman doesn’t mean he can’t die!” Robin lashed out. “He still feels things! All of you think he’s just some emotionless bastard, but he’s not! He’s very emotional, but he’s too strong to show it. Do any of you even know when he’s amused or scared or mad?!” Silence answered him. “No! Of course not! You don’t look for the signs. Do you know when I am?! When I’m hurt or happy or sad?” Again silence. He laughed. “I don’t know why I’m asking a traitor who left me for dead.” He said towards Artemis.

“Robin, calm down.” Canary’s soft voice interrupted. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

“Everything was okay, but nothing ever stays okay. Batman is dying and it’s all my fault! How is anything going to be okay?!” Robin yelled.

“It’s not your fault.” Canary soothed.

“Yes, it is.” Robin countered.

“How is any of this your fault?” Red Arrow asked.

“We were fighting a Talon and I was stupid enough to attack when he showed no signs of weakening his defense. He kicked me away and I almost fell off Wayne Enterprises. ...It would’ve been a fitting death, don’t you think? Falling like my parents, even falling from the same building Slade did. Anyway, I caught myself, but Batman was worried because I had just fallen off a building to him. That distraction gave the Talon an opening and he took it and stabbed Batman. By the time I pulled myself up, the Talon twisted the knife and pulled it out. I just watched it all happen. I didn’t stop it, and I was the reason Batman got distracted.” Robin said quietly. 

“Robin…” Red Arrow trailed. He didn’t know what to say. Robin’s argument wasn’t easy to counter or debunk. Then the doors of the medical wing swung open.


	2. Chapter 2

Then the doors of the medical wing swung open. Martian Manhunter stepped into the waiting area and looked at Robin grimly.

"Robin, he's stable, but... there is an unknown toxin in his system... Until we know what toxin it is, he will stay in the med wing. Other than that, everything went well." He said assuringly.

Robin looked from Martian Manhunter to the floor.  _ I will find that Talon and make him tell me what toxin it is.  _ He looked back up. On the outside he looked calm, on the inside he was boiling with rage.

"Can you stitch up my arm? I completely forgot about it." Robin said, allowing no emotion to seep into his tone.

"I'll do it." Red Arrow voiced quickly.

Then he motioned for Robin to follow him. The two made their way to the clinic, and Robin sat down. Red Arrow began to inspect the wound, handling it gently.

"Did you get stabbed by the Talon?" Red Arrow questioned.

"No, I stabbed myself with his knife." Robin sassed.

"Robin, you could have the toxin." Red Arrow said seriously.

"Do a test," Robin commanded.

His command wasn't needed. Red Arrow was already getting a blood sample and putting it under the microscope. Red Arrow sighed.

"There's nothing abnormal in your blood. I guess that knife didn't have the toxin on it." Red Arrow stated. Robin sighed in relief, but the confusion was mixing with his rage.  _ Why? _

"Can you stitch this up now?" He asked.

Red Arrow nodded and began pulling the sterile needle and string through Robin's skin.  _ I always hated this feeling.  _ After a few minutes of silence, Red Arrow spoke.

"I know you're thinking about going after the Talon." He said, not looking up from the stitching.

"Don't try to stop me." Robin expressed angrily.

Red Arrow looked up at him for a second then back down at his work.

"You know they say about of the Dynamic Duo? Batman's the one to watch out for. I disagree with that. You've got quite the anger and wouldn't hesitate to kill someone if they posed a threat to anyone you care for." Red Arrow paused. The silence grew thick between them. "What are you going to do when you find this Talon?" Red Arrow asked.

"I'm going to get the name of the toxin and the cure if he has it," Robin answered.

"And he doesn't give it to you?" Red Arrow countered.

"He will," Robin growled. His anger fully showing. "If he cherishes his life, he will."

Red Arrow finished stitching Robin's arm. It only took about three, but Roy didn't want to give Robin a reason to leave.

"Robin, going after someone out of anger is never a good idea. I would know. Hell, almost every hero would agree."

"I'm aware of that. I never said I was going without planning first. What do you think I am, a novice?" Robin said angrily.

"You're still a child. I know you have been through enough pain to have lived four lifetimes, but you're thirteen. You can't even legally drive yet." Red Arrow defended.

"But I know how to drive," Robin said. "I know what I'm doing."

Robin pushed himself up and went to the door.

"If Batman wakes up, tell him I'm with Alfred," Robin said and disappeared from Red Arrow’s sight.

Red Arrow’s words rang in his ears.  _ Still a child. Yeah right. I was forced to grow up when I was eight. He doesn't know anything. Besides, I've been in the fighting business way longer than he has.  _ Robin walked to the zeta tubes.  _ I'll check in with Alfred and tell him what happened before planning my attack.  _ Robin stepped through the golden light and appeared in the Batcave. Robin paused. The cave was fully fixed after last years fight, and looked brand new, but something was off. Robin walked towards the staircase but paused again.  _ Smoke?  _ Robin registered the smell and sprinted up the stairs. In the manor, flames licked and caressed the walls, burning everything it touched.  _ Alfred!  _ Worry filled Robin.

"Alfred!" He yelled. Nothing answered him but the sound of burning and popping.

"Alfred!" He tried again. He heard a faint voice.

"ALFRED!" He screamed as he moved towards the living room.

He heard coughing. Robin carefully made his way to the living room. On the floor, pinned under a large, oak bookcase was Alfred. He was coughing and struggling weakly against the heavy oak. Robin coughed as he rushed to the loyal butler.

"Master...Richard." Alfred wheezed.

Robin ignored him and began trying to lift the bookcase.

"Go...Richard." Alfred gasped out.

"No way!" Robin tried harder, but the damn thing wouldn't budge. Robin planted his feet firmly and pulled up on the edge of the oak.

"Alfred, push!" Robin ordered. The older man didn't obey. A flame started to lick at Robin's ankle, slowly burning away his shoe and pant leg.

"Leave…" Alfred said weakly.

"No! I'm not leaving you to die, Alfred! Push!" Robin yelled, tears stinging his eyes from the smoke, and the pain shooting up his leg.  _ What if we can't get this off him? What if I don't save him?  _ Robin gritted his teeth and pushed harder. The skin on his ankle burning. The pain only fueled him.

"Alfred, please!" Robin begged.

Alfred obeyed and pushed as hard as he could. It didn't do much, but Robin tried harder, adrenaline rushing through his system as he forced his whole body to free Alfred and to forget his burned ankle. The bookcase lifted just enough for Alfred to crawl out. Robin dropped the bookcase and moved over to Alfred, coughing. Smoke was choking him and burning his eyes. Robin took off his cape and gave it to Alfred.

"Alfred, use this to cover your mouth and nose," Robin said through coughs.

He took off his glove and held it to his own face. Together, the two made their way through the burning home and down to the Batcave. In the cave, Alfred collapsed and coughed harshly. Robin grabbed onto Alfred's arm and pulled him up. Robin supported all of Alfred's weight and guided him to the zeta tube. They stepped in and were engulfed by the bright light. Once in Mount Justice, the two fell and coughed. Alfred coughed more than Robin, so when the others came to help them, Robin directed their attention to the older butler.

"Those bastards!" Robin yelled between coughs. "How dare they! When I find them I'm going to-" Robin shouted in rage. The shout was broken by harsh coughs.

"Robin, what happened?" Black Canary said gently, trying not to fuel the boy's anger.

"The Court set the manor on fire. Alfred was stuck under a bookcase and I couldn't get it off him, but we got it off him and came here, and I think I have a second-degree burn on my ankle." Robin said, his coughing calming for a second.

Black Canary rubbed his back and gave him an oxygen mask. Robin suddenly felt very tired as the adrenaline left his system. His breathing returned to normal, and he laid down on his back. He continued breathing evenly and slowly fell asleep. Canary looking over him with concern.

"I…will get...them for this." He trailed as he fell into the world of sleep.

* * *

 

Robin slowly woke up and opened his eyes. He stared at the white ceiling with faint patterns.  _ Medical wing...I must've breathed in too much smoke.  _ Robin's anger swelled at the memory of the fire and events before.  _ I will take the Court down. I'll kill them all! They think they can hurt my family and get away with it! I'll show them something to be afraid of.  _ Robin reached his hand up and took off the oxygen mask he realized he was wearing. A different hand placed it back over his nose and mouth.

"I see you're awake and kicking." Black Canary's gentle voice came from beside him.

“Yeah, well what did you expect?" Robin asked, his question slightly muffled.

"Nothing less, you two always get up despite almost dying." Black Canary sighed. "It's kind of annoying."

"But impressive." Robin pointed out.

"If impressing us meta-humans is the only reason then you're doing for all the wrong reasons. You two should know we don't underestimate you. In fact, we are very cautious around you two. Everyone knows you could easily take us out." Black Canary said.

Robin laughed. "We don't come back for impressing you, we always come back so we can keep you from doing stupid things. I expect that at least half a city is destroyed by now."

"It's kind of freaky how you know that, but you're right. Without Batman, it seems like every fight and mission isn't going as smoothly as planned." Black Canary admitted.

"He is a genius." Robin reasoned.

"Yeah, and I swear you and him aren't human sometimes." Black Canary admitted again.

They continued the chatter. Robin didn't tell her that he didn't think of himself as a human, but a monster.  _ She would be disappointed and try to convince me otherwise. _ They continued to talk until Canary suggested they see the team.

"They would like to know you're okay." She tried.

"I know which is why I want to see Alfred." Robin defended.  _ Why isn't she letting me see Alfred? _

"Richard," She said getting serious. "Alfred hasn't woken up yet."

"So? I can stay with him until he does." Robin argued.

Canary sighed. "We don't know when that will be. He inhaled a lot more smoke than you did and you've been out for two and a half hours."

Robin looked at his hands.

"Fine, but I get to change into my uniform. I hate medical gowns." He said and began to get up.

Black Canary nodded and sighed in relief. She then went and picked up Robin's charred and smoke smelling uniform. She handed to him, and he said thank you. Robin quickly changed into his uniform and made sure his mask was in place then went out with Canary to the common room in the mountain. Robin was greeted by the sight of his worried team. Artemis and Wally were pacing. Megan and Connor were sitting on the couch, Megan leaning on him. Aqualad was reading, but he wasn't processing the words or getting engrossed in the words as he usually did. Robin was a little surprised to see Roy and Zatanna. Roy was pacing as well. Zatanna was staring into space from her seat in the room. Black Canary nodded at Robin and left the room. Robin sighed, cleared his throat, and gained their attention. The first one to speak was Roy.

"You're awake!" He rushed over and scanned Robin. "Nothing serious? No broken bones? Concussion?"

"No. Nothing serious, just a burn on my ankle." Robin replied.

After Roy came the whole team. They asked similar questions and stressed over him. Robin noticed Artemis' reluctance to join them in their interrogation and worrying. She stood just outside the group. Not enough to stand out, but enough to not be engaged.

"What the hell happened?! Batman gets stabbed, you and Agent A come in here with burns and are coughing! And then you say “I will get them for this” right before you black out! So, tell us who exactly are you getting revenge on?!" Roy stressed, even though he already knew the answer to his question.

"The Court of Owls. They want to hurt the people I care about. I will hurt them back." Robin said coldly.

It was that moment that everyone realized that Robin was much more dangerous than Batman and without the older bat, Robin would be motivated by anger.

"I'm going back to Gotham and see what damage has been done," Robin said as he walked towards the zeta tube. Artemis grabbed his wrist.

"Let one of us come with you." She said.

Robin was quiet for a moment and roughly pulled his wrist from her hand.

"No meta-humans or aliens are allowed in Gotham." Robin voiced.

It was an indirect invitation to Roy and Artemis. They were the only humans. Although, Roy was the only one in costume, and Robin was on his way out. Artemis would have to hurry if she was to accompany them. Artemis sprinted off as Roy nodded. Robin sighed and resumed his walk to the zeta tubes with Red Arrow trailing. The two walked to the tubes, and Robin began setting it to Gotham. As he finished and the tube fired up, Artemis came rushing in. Robin snickered as she panted. The three walked into the light.

* * *

 

In Gotham, Robin fired a grapple, zipped up to the top of an office building, and began running across the rooftops, flipping from one to the other. The archers followed and kept up with the acrobat even if they were very tired by the time they got to a point where they could see the manor.

"Out of shape are we?" Robin smirked at the panting archers.

"We don't...run this much...in Starling." Red Arrow excused.

"I'm not used to running across these rooftops. There's an alley every few feet." Artemis excused.

Robin smiled and turned his attention to the manor. Smoke was still billowing from the dying home. The flames were being fought by firemen and water. It didn't look like they were winning and the fire would continue for a while. Robin hadn't watched the news in the past few hours. but knew that the Wayne Manor fire was the top story at the moment. Robin sighed.

"What are we going to do?" Red Arrow asked.

"Go to Wayne Enterprises and patrol from there," Robin instructed.

The three heroes began their rooftop journey to the tall building, stopped some thugs on the way there. The three got up to the roof of the building and stood vigilant for a while before moving to the next building. Red Arrow and Artemis were looking for common thugs and villains. They didn't know Robin couldn't care less about them and was searching for any sign of the Talon or The Court. He was so focused that he didn't notice that Artemis and Red Arrow had turned their attention to a lurking shadow. Both had their bows drawn and loaded.

"Don't shoot...I'm already...injured." A voice forced out.

Robin spun around. He took in the half-shadowed figure of the woman. She had cuts everywhere and was bleeding heavily. She looked as though she was about to fall, swaying.

"Catwoman!" Robin exclaimed as he rushed forward and caught the woman.

He gently set her down and examined her. She had three stab wounds in her abdomen and the various cuts and heavy bruises across her body.

"Artemis, Red Arrow get her to the mountain for medical." He ordered.

"What? Why? She's a vil-" Artemis started to protest.

"Now!" Robin yelled.

The two archers jumped and did as he said. The woman was held up by the two, and they began to leave.

"What are you going to do?" Red Arrow questioned.

"...Go." Robin avoided the question.

Robin heard the disappointed sigh but ignored it.  _ Roy can think whatever he wants. _ Robin resumed his patrol and scanned the city.

"Well, look at you. The famed successor of the Bat and Owl. There are powerful people interested in you. William Cobb is first and foremost. Do you know him?" A voice from the shadows inquired.

Robin didn't turn, he knew who it was. It was the Talon.

"Afraid I don't." Robin hissed.  _ The name does sound familiar though. _

"It's rude to not look at someone when they're talking to you." The Talon said. "Anyway, you are very special, Richard. You are one of the few children to escape our recruitment, and you were very promising. You were supposed to be ours. It was an agreement between many parties." He taunted.

"Why are you telling me this?" Robin asked as he turned.

"Because you'll be with us from now on." A different voice came from behind him.

Robin looked around and noticed Talons surrounding him.  _ How the hell am I going to get out of this?!  _ Robin felt panic starting to take over, building into a massive wave.

"You belong to the Court." the Talon directly in front of him said. 

At those words, the Talons attacked.


	3. Chapter 3

Robin had no idea how he was going to get out of this. He was fighting off twelve highly trained assassins, and he was losing. Robin wasn’t really fighting; he was flipping around and barely dodging the various weapons the assassins wielded. Robin hissed as yet another knife cut him. He was getting tired.  _ Red Arrow and Artemis will come back soon.  _

“No use fighting.” A Talon laughed. “There are too many of us. You may be dodging, but you are tiring, getting slower. It’s only a matter of time until you’re so tired you can’t dodge us anymore.” 

Robin gritted his teeth, knowing the assassin was right. 

“Then maybe it’s time to fight,” Robin growled and kicked a knife out of the nearest hand. 

He jumped off a Talon and caught it. Now wielding a knife, he sprung and lashed out at the nearest Talon. The Talon yelped in surprise and pain as the knife cut a large, deep gash in his chest.  _ One down for now. Eleven more. You can do this.  _ Robin was slashing at any flesh he could reach and defend himself.  _ I can’t go on much longer. We’ve been fighting for too long! Where the hell are Red Arrow and Artemis?!  _ Robin wasn’t paying attention and a hand grabbed his arm then pinned him to the ground. Robin started struggling and fighting against his captor. 

“Told you it wouldn’t be long.” The Talon above him laughed. 

“Robin!” 

Robin struggled to turn his head and saw Red Arrow and Artemis sprinting towards him a roof away. A cloth was roughly placed over his mouth and nose.  _ Chloroform!  _ Robin struggled to hold his breath just long enough for Red Arrow and Artemis to get to him. 

“You can't hold your breath forever, and they can't fight us.” The Talon above him said. 

Robin knew that was true. Red Arrow and Artemis were already fighting two Talons, but they were losing miserably. They were fighting tooth and nail, but it wasn’t enough. They already had multiple wounds. Robin couldn’t hold his breath any longer and breathed in. The chloroform quickly seeped in and made him extremely drowsy causing him to slow his struggles and his eyes to start closing.

“Robin! Fight, damn it!” Red Arrow yelled at him.

Robin desperately wanted to, but he couldn’t, not with the overpowering tiredness clouding his mind. Robin’s eyes closed, and the Talons began to lift him.

* * *

 

“Damn it! They’re taking him!” Red Arrow shouted at Artemis.

The girl was trying to block the Talon’s hits but was failing.  _ They’re too fast for us. _

“We can’t let them take him!” Artemis growled.

“Good luck with that.” The Talon attacking Red Arrow said.

Artemis and Red Arrow exchanged a look. They looked back at the Talon with rage occupying their features. With a war cry, they rushed for one Talon and dealt two powerful hits. They did nothing to the Talon. Red Arrow shot an arrow at another Talon. When it hit, it broke into a thick, red foam. The Talon would be stuck for a while. Artemis had somehow jumped onto a Talon’s shoulders and proceeded to bring him down to the hard rooftop then roll away. Red Arrow took this opportunity to shot another foam arrow. Both Talons were stuck for the time being. 

“We have to get Robin!” Red Arrow demanded and ran in the direction the other Talons went.

Artemis was about to follow when one of the Talons began laughing.

“What?” Artemis snarled.

“You honestly think you can get him.” The other Talon started laughing. 

_ He sounds young.  _ Artemis went over to the Talon. She bent down and slowly took off his mask, ignoring his rude comments and struggles. She gasped. Before her was a boy. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, freckles, and looked her, but his eyes looked exhausted. It was a look Artemis had seen on Robin when the days were harsh on his mental health. Artemis noticed a scar on his lower jaw bone that traveled down to his shoulder.

“How old are you?” Artemis questioned.

“Doesn’t matter.” He replied. 

Artemis sighed and took out her phone. She snapped a picture and did the same with the other Talon. It was a she. The girl looked about twenty, had brown hair and no scars, but one eye. Artemis felt pity for these two. She shoved those feelings down and took a picture. She stood and began running after Red Arrow.

“You just killed us.” One of the Talons said. 

Artemis didn’t know if she heard correctly but continued running. She heard a shout, stopped, and sprinted towards it. She saw Red Arrow looking at a distant light in the sky.

“What are you doing?!” Artemis exclaimed.

“They’re gone.” Red Arrow said, panicked.

“What do you mean?” Artemis questioned. 

“They took him. They escaped with Robin.” Red Arrow said.

“How?!” Artemis yelled.

“There was a helicopter. They had Robin on it before I even saw them. Before I got here, they were lifting off. I didn’t get here in time! Where were you?!” Red Arrow yelled. “You were supposed to be right behind me, but you weren’t!”

Artemis sighed and began telling the angered teen about the Talons. She showed him the pictures and told him what she thought they said.

“Let’s just go back to the cave and tell the League. They’re probably long gone anyway.” Red Arrow said, panic evident.

The two archers made their way back to the zeta telephone booth in Gotham and went to the cave. They both felt the heavy weight of the missing member.

* * *

 

When Robin awoke, there was a bag on his head, gag in his mouth, hands cuffed behind his back, gloves off, feet tied together, and he was being carried over someone’s shoulder. His head hurt. He began to struggle and try to speak, only to produce muffled sounds.

“Don’t struggle, or else I’ll have to knock you out, again.” The person carrying him said.

_ Male. Probably a Talon. Wait, again?  _ Robin quit struggling and made a questioning sound.

“You woke up when we got here and put up a hell of a fight. We had to knock you out.” The Talon responded.

_ That’s why my head hurts.  _

They walked for a while before the man stopped and the sound of a door opening caught Robin’s attention. The male walked again, and Robin was placed into a chair, his arms around the back of the chair and his legs still tied. The bag was ripped off and the gag removed. The bright light disoriented him. Once Robin could see, he noticed a man sitting across from him in a chair similar to his own. He looked around. The room was bare with plain, cement walls. The only disturbing thing about the room was the blood splattered across the floor and walls. Robin looked at the man in front of him. He had a sharp, black beard and mustache, crystal blue eyes, black hair, and had a complexion similar to Robin’s. 

“Who are you?” Robin questioned.

“William Cobb.” The man replied. “I don’t think we need this.” 

William reached forward and removed Robin’s mask. 

“Richard, long time, no see, darling boy,” William said.

“I don’t know you,” Richard snarled.

“Yes, a shame really. We were meant to be master and apprentice.” William said, disappointment lining his tone.

“What do you mean?” Richard asked.  _ Master and apprentice? I’ve never even heard of him...although his name does sound a little familiar.  _

“John and Mary had agreed to hand you over to the Court as a rising Owl, my replacement when they died. Anyway, you were taken by the authorities before we could get you. You were supposed to be ours, become an Owl when you were ready.” William said, nonchalantly.

“What do you mean my parents were going to give me to you?” Richard questioned. 

Disbelief and anger were welling up inside him. He was having trouble comprehending the information presented.  _ They were going to give me away?! Didn’t they love me? I don’t understand. Why would they do this?  _

“Yes. I am your grandfather after all.” He said.

_ Grandfather?!  _ Richard looked at him in shock.  _ Wait, when they died. Did he have something to do with their deaths? It’s almost like he had everything planned out.  _

“Did you kill them?” Richard whispered.

“Hmm? Oh, well, I paid Tony Zucco to sabotage the wires even if the circus did pay him. You see, I simply could not wait until your parents died of natural causes. That would be far too long, and you would be far too innocent and corrupted by their views of the world.” William answered.

“They were your family! How could you!” Richard yelled.

“I just told you” William replied.

_ Damn, we are too much alike.  _ Tears welled in Richard's eyes.

“Oh, come now. They are long dead.” William said at the sight of Richard's unshed tears.

“It’s not that! I murdered Zucco when you were the one who orchestrated it all!” Richard yelled angrily.

“That is true. Bloody well done, by the way.” William replied calmly to the yells.

“That isn’t something to be proud of,” Richard snarled.

“Isn’t it though?” William replied with a smile.

* * *

 

“So the Court of Owls has Robin.” Black Canary clarified.

Red Arrow and Artemis had come barging into the cave, making no sense whatsoever, and they were covered in cuts and bruises. Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Martian Manhunter, Superman, Flash, and the team had been attracted to the commotion and had calmed them down. The two archers told the story and informed the heroes what had happened to their little bird.

“Yes!” Red Arrow and Artemis shouted.

“Okay, okay. Calm down. Do we have any leads?” Green Arrow asked.

“No! Nothing!” Red Arrow exclaimed.

“All we have is that it’s the Court. And they are very real.” Artemis said.

“Anyone tell Batman or Agent A?” Superman questioned. 

The Man of Steel was hoping to see Robin and tell the angered boy they had found the toxin and made a cure and that Batman was going to be okay.

“No.” Martian Manhunter answered.

“It’s probably best that we don’t tell them.” Wonder Woman replied.

“Don’t tell who what?” A gruff voice came from behind the heroes.

Everyone reluctantly turned towards the doorway. Leaning against the doorway was Batman and Agent A.

“Nothing!” Flash said quickly.

Batman and Agent A narrowed their eyes and glared at the heroes. The others quickly succumbed to the demanding glares.

“Robin has been abducted by the Court…” Green Arrow said softly.

Batman and Agent A visibly tensed. Their minds running a mile a minute. Batman was the first to speak.

“What do we have?” He questioned.

“Nothing really,” Superman answered. 

Red Arrow took this opportunity and launched his explanation of the events leading to this moment. By the end of it, Agent A and Batman were boiling with barely contained rage.

“None of you went with him!” Agent A stressed to the older heroes.

“He’s a bat! We thought he’d be fine, and Red Arrow and Artemis went with him.” Flash defended.

“That means nothing! They severely hurt Catwoman! He is still a child, no matter how much he’s been through! I don’t care that half of you are still uncomfortable around him! That is not an excuse! You should have protected him!” Agent A began the shout and Batman had finished it.

They were pissed at the League. Agent A turned towards Red Arrow and Artemis.

“Thank you for going with him. Unlike some here, you actually did something productive.” Agent A said.

“Oh, come on! It’s not that bad!” Flash complained.

“It’s not your son who’s being held captive by assassins,” Batman growled dangerously.

“If this were Wally, you would be searching every nook and cranny in the city. Why won’t you do it for Robin, my family?” Agent A snarled. 

Flash looked away guiltily. The Flash was one of the heroes who still resented the assassin turned hero and was against Kid Flash having anything to do with him.

“I’m not because he’s still an assassin in my book. This could be all his doing!” He exclaimed.

“HOW DARE YOU!” Batman roared. “You honestly think he would go back to being a criminal?! After everything?!” 

“This is going to be rough.” Black Canary said to Green Arrow as they watched Batman, Agent A, and Flash fight.

It took the three heroes forty minutes to stop fighting. In those forty minutes, most of the League had joined them. The new arrivals had looked at the usually quiet heroes in shock. Batman and Agent A rarely lost their composure. It was a frightening sight. They knew that Robin was deeply cared for by the two bats, but they didn’t think they’d go ballistic if anything happened to the boy. Everyone now knew to never mess with the boy. 

“He’s my son, Barry. I love him. He’s my family and I am going to every resource I have to find him. Even if that means reducing you to equipment. He’s our light, and we cannot lose him. Not after everything that has happened.” Batman said dangerously.

The argument had silenced everyone, including Flash. Batman never expressed his care for anyone, unless they were the world to him. 

“...Fine. We’ll help.” The Flash said, finally surrendering to the bat. “Where do we start?” 


	4. Chapter 4

Richard would argue that he hated William Cobb, but he would know it was a lie. Richard didn’t hate the man but hated what he did for a living. Cobb was interesting and was the only blood relation Richard had. Though in his current situation, it was very easy to forget that. Richard was still tied to a chair and \being questioned by Cobb about Batman. 

“Who’s the man under the mask?” Cobb asked.

Richard remained silent.

“Is there anyone helping Batman besides Robin?” He continued, “We’ll let you go if you answer.”

Silence.

“Why do you protect him?” Cobb questioned.

“He’s family,” Richard replied.

“He speaks!” Cobb smirked. “Now, who is Batman? Identity for freedom.”

Silence.

“Come now, we were getting somewhere!” William whined.

Silence.

After a while of silence, William smiled widely and said, “We already know Bruce Wayne is Batman and that Alfred Pennyworth and various others are helping him. We also know he adopted you a few months ago.”

Richard looked at him with wide, questioning eyes.

“You didn’t think we wouldn’t keep tabs on the other guardian of Gotham and our next Owl, did you? That’s absurd. To answer the question of why, I needed to know if you are resistant to interrogation. We are well aware of what Deathstroke did, so torture won’t be a problem. Bribery is what we had a concern over. You proved that it shouldn’t be and won’t be.” Cobb smiled.

_ Deathstroke.  _ The name brought a chill to Richard’s spine. It brought the issue of Deathstroke to light.  _ Where is he? Intel said he was with the Court.  _

“What of Deathstroke?” Richard questioned.

“He’s a partner of the Court. When you become an Owl, you will have some control over him. Although, as a Talon, you will be working with him on some of your assignments.” Cobb answered.

Silence took over the room.

“What now?” Richard asked after a while.

“You die.” Cobb gave him a sweet smile and the world suddenly went black as something bludgeoned him.

* * *

 

The team, Batman, and Martian Manhunter were on computers looking for any sign of Robin or the Court. Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Arrow, Red Arrow, and Black Canary were discussing the files spread out in front of them. Batman would occasionally join in and comment. Kid Flash stretched from his chair in front of a League computer. Beside him sat Artemis. 

“We’ve been working and searching for three hours and have nothing. Shouldn’t we take a break or something?” Kid Flash asked Artemis.

Artemis was furiously working and shook her head vehemently. Kid Flash gave her a soft expression. He knew her and Red Arrow felt guilty about Robin’s kidnapping.

“It wasn’t your fault.” He said as he took her hands in his, stopping her typing.

“...If I was faster, if I hadn’t wasted time with those two Talons, he would be here.” Artemis said softly, not looking the redhead in the eye.

“Let’s take a break.” Kid Flash said and lead Artemis to the commons room.

Batman had been hunched over files and his computer. He was frustrated. Nothing he had lead him to the Court. He growled as he looked over Robin’s Light file. As he was looking through, he paused at Lex Luthor. An idea formed in his mind. He straightened, his face more stern than usual and anger rolled off him. Black Canary saw his movement and nudged Superman who nudged Wonder Woman and Green Arrow.

“Something wrong?” Black Canary asked gently. 

“Lex Luthor,” Batman growled.

When the other heroes looked at him with a puzzled expression he explained, “He’s in association with Deathstroke. Deathstroke has joined the Court.” 

The other’s ‘oh’ed and nodded. Batman began storming towards the zeta tubes.

“I don’t think you should go alone,” Superman said.

Batman glared at him. “I can deal with this myself.”

“I don’t want you killing Lex Luthor.” Superman clarified.

Batman glared again and resumed his walk towards the zeta tubes. Superman and Wonder Woman caught up with him, and the three went to Metropolis to visit a bald genius.

* * *

 

Once they stepped out of the golden light, Batman wasted no time in getting to Lexcorp. The man of bats burst through Lex Luthor’s office window and slammed the man’s head on the desk and held it there. He bent down into the man’s sight and gave him a stern glare.

“Batman!” Wonder Woman said.

“I want to know everything you know about Deathstroke,” Batman growled dangerously.

“D-Deathstroke joined some other organization! I don’t know anything about it!” Luthor responded from his place on the desk.

Batman snarled and pushed harder of Luthor’s head. Superman and Wonder Woman were about to make a move when Batman had given them a glare that said ‘come near us and I will brutally beat you.’

“Everything.” He demanded.

“The Court of Owls paid top dollar! They’re after somebody who’s their next Owl, another Talon! That’s all I know!” Luthor spilled.

“Are you sure that’s everything? Answer wisely because if I find out you know more than what you’re telling me, I will come back here and skin you alive. Do you understand?” Batman snarled.

“Y-Yes! T-That’s everything I know!” Luthor said, fear evident in his tone and features. 

Batman let go and disappeared, leaving Superman and Wonder Woman behind. The two heroes quickly asked if the genius was alright and, when they got a yes, left. They now knew that Batman must be kept in control by Agent A if anyone the man interrogated was to be unharmed.

* * *

 

When they got back to the cave, everything was in chaos. Heroes were running towards the main control room and shouting. Batman quickly caught on and rushed after the other heroes, Superman and Wonder Woman following him. Before they got into the room, they heard a collective gasp and a bunch of distraught shouts and voices. Once inside, Batman froze. On the main screen was a tied up Robin. 

He was badly beaten and in clear pain. On the bottom of the screen were the words ‘live in pain or die in peace?’ Batman didn’t know what was planned, but he felt there was a decision about to be made, and that decision would determine whether or not Robin lives or dies. The words changed into ‘Hello, Justice League and company. We are gathered here today to decide the fate of dear Robin. You have two choices. Allow him to live in immense pain or give him a painless death. You have three minutes to decide. If a decision has not been reached by then this child,’ A young boy with blonde hair and green eyes was shown tied up with his parents behind him. ‘will die. After another three, the husband will be forced to shoot the wife and after another three, the husband will be forced to shoot Robin and then himself.’ The screen turned back to Robin. The boy was panting and bloody. He glared at the camera and cussed at it. His face was bruised, if he didn’t have on the uniform it would’ve been hard to know who it was. Batman narrowed his eyes at the screen. Something wasn’t right.  _ Why would the Court do this? It makes no sense.  _ He looked at the clock and tried to tune out the chaos of the shouting heroes.  _ Live in pain or die in peace. What pain? Who beat Richard?  _ That was the million dollar question.  _ Was it really the Court or is this an act of some rogue Talons or Deathstroke? Two minutes. Running out of time.  _ Coughing broke his train of thought and all the heroes in the room turned their attention to the large screen. Robin’s lips were moving, but no sound was coming out. The boy cleared his throat. His gaze flickered to the side of the room.  _ Someone’s there, making sure he doesn’t say something helpful. _

“The family...should-should live.” He said through the pain clouding his mind.

A couple heroes gasped, but most of them looked down or at Batman. Batman stared at the screen, eyes wide.  _ One minute.  _ They stood still for the whole minutes before a beep sounded through the speakers. The words ‘what is your choice?’ appeared at the bottom of the screen. No one spoke. The air was still as the words changed to ‘No response? Pity.’ 

“N-No! I choose...to die!” Robin protested as a gun was raised and pointed towards the young boy.

“NO!” Robin shouted as the trigger was pulled and the young life was taken. 

Robin stared at the body with wide eyes.  _ They chose me over the boy…  _ Tears welled in his eyes. The family had done nothing. As far as Robin knew, they were saints. He bowed his head.  _ They don’t deserve this.  _ Robin looked at the crying, gagged mother. Tears were streaming down her face, and she was huddled against her husband. The husband had wet eyes and was trying very hard to hold his tears in. Robin made eye contact with the mother. They shared a moment of grieve, and Robin allowed his face to look apologetic and sorry. He truly was. He didn’t want the child to die. Robin turned his watery gaze to Cobb, who had a gun on the unmentioned daughter.  _ Tell them nothing. _ Robin then glared at the camera and looked into it. His eyes conveying the emotions of disbelief, sadness, and confusion.  _ Why chose me?  _

Batman had closed his eyes when the shot rang through the cave. He bowed his head for the child and hoped that he wouldn’t go to hell for that. Sensitive heroes, such as Megan, had shouted and had tears in their eyes. When Batman looked up, he was meet with the tortured look his son was giving the camera. A look of why; it tore at Batman. The clock was at two minutes and fifteen seconds when Batman had looked at it. Alfred had come in when he heard the gunshot. 

“We both know what the decision must be.” He said grimly.

“I know.” Batman said barely above a whisper.

They waited for the clock to get down to zero and the words to return to the question of their decision. The other crime fighters looked at the two bats. 

“Di...Die in peace.” Batman said softly with his head down and eyes closed.

“Don’t you look away. Look at your son,” Alfred said, his voice cracking. 

Batman did as he was told and looked, trying to be strong. Robin had a peaceful expression. He knew what they were going to say that and had wanted them too. Robin looked into the camera as a gun was pointed at him. He desperately wanted to tell them what was really going on, but he couldn’t.

“Thank you...I...I lo-” Robin was cut off by the gun firing two shots at the parents.

The bullets had decimated their heads, and they fell limply to the floor. The woman's eyes were still open, but the husbands had fallen closed. Robin was lost for words. The gun pointed itself at Robin. Before he had time to react, another gunshot echoed throughout the cave. Robin yelped and stilled. Blood oozed from his chest and slowly formed a small pool around him. The last thing Batman registered was the wide, surprised, fearful eyes of his cold, dead son. The screen went black and words greeted them. ‘Thank you for participating. Stop looking for information on the Court, and we will leave you alone. No one else has to die.’ 

Sobs echoed throughout the cave. Batman stood with wide eyes.  _ He’s gone. He’s dead. I failed.  _ Alfred tried to get a reaction but got nothing other than the wide stare. 

“Master Batman...Batman...Bruce...Bruce!” Alfred said. 

Batman turned his attention to the old butler numbly. Alfred had tears running down his worn face. He was trying to hold it together, but the events that had unfolded were too much for the old man. His voice cracked and wavered, and he had to take deep breaths before he could speak.

“I...I failed him.” Batman’s voice broke with sadness and his tears were released.

“No. No, you didn’t. There was no way of stopping this.” Alfred tried, but he sounded like he himself didn’t believe his own words.

“My son... I...Don’t know what to do.” Bruce looked to Alfred for guidance. 

Alfred just shook his head and pulled the Dark Knight in for a comforting hug. At this, Bruce lost his control. A sob broke past his lips, tears wouldn’t stop streaming, and he shook violently. The whole League felt his sadness. Some not as much as others, but they were all saddened. The male heroes bowed their heads in silence. Red Arrow was sobbing and being hugged by a crying Black Canary. The woman was shushing him and whispering things to him. Green Arrow came up behind them and wrapped them both with his arms. They cried into his shoulders. Miss Martian was clinging to her uncle, looking for comfort as she bawled. Superboy looked grim and Superman had a hand on his shoulder while Wonder Woman was hugging him. Artemis and Kid Flash were clinging to each other and crying. Aqualad and Aquaman were quiet and respectful. Aqualad looked like he was trying so hard to keep it in and, so far, he was succeeding. Batman was still burrowed into Alfred’s shoulder when he began talking.

“Damnit! Why?! Why him?! He did nothing wrong!” His voice was hysterical and cracked. “I don’t understand.” He whispered brokenly. 

At those words, the full situation hit the heroes. Robin was gone, for good. He wasn’t coming back. No miracle was going to happen. No miraculous resurrections this time. Batman would no longer have a bright, playful partner to balance out his darkness. Batman would never be the same because Robin was dead. No one would be there to make a dark situation less dark or chop up the English language. The sobs increased and some of the heroes who were holding it in broke and cried as it sunk in. Robin was truly dead.

* * *

 

Cobb laughed as he watched the League mourn their youngest. 

“All according to plan.” He grinned.


	5. Chapter 5

Richard gasped and thrashed.  _ What?! Where am I?!  _ Richard choked on the green liquid filling his mouth and shot up. He coughed up some of the liquid and gasped for air. His eyes widened when he heard the laughing. He spun his head and saw William Cobb and Ra’s Al Ghul. Richard processed the scene in front of him. They were in a cave, but the wall behind him was a full mirror. He was floating in a green pool that seemed to glow.  _ Lazarus Pit. Did...Did I die?  _ Richard turned towards the two men with wide eyes. William was laughing, Ra’s was just staring and grinning.

“What...What did you do to me? What did you do to me?!” He yelled.

“Welcome back to the land of the living!” William said, arms spread out. 

“Cobb killed you. I owe him a favor, and he used it to bring you back. You weren’t really dead though, just almost. If you were dead, it wouldn’t have worked.” Ra’s al Ghul explained. 

Richard looked at his body.  _ The mirror!  _ He spun and smacked his hands onto the mirror and looked at himself. His left eye was an emerald green while the other remained the same crystal blue. The usual jet black hair had a white streak in it. It was just a small portion. Richard took in his skin. He was abnormally pale and his veins were almost black. Richard stood there in the green pool, taking in his new look. The color was slowly returning to his skin and the white streak expanded into a lock of white hair near the front of his face. Richard didn't know how long he stood there, but it must’ve been a while. When he turned around, Cobb was sitting on some rocks and Ra’s was gone.

“If you’re done, I have something to show you,” Cobb smirked.

“How long was I dead?” Richard asked before making his way over to Cobb and lifting himself out of the pool. 

Cobb turned away and handed Richard some clothes. Richard didn’t understand until he realized he was stark naked. He quickly took the clothes and put them on. Richard was now dressed in a uniform similar to the Talons just without the mask.

“You were never really dead, but you have been soaking in the Pit for about three months,” Cobb informed.

“Three months?!” Richard exclaimed.  _ Batman must be worried! He is probably drowning himself in guilt and work.  _ The recent events flooded his mind again.  _ Oh right. He thinks I’m dead...Well, he must be looking for my body! He is very paranoid and probably didn’t believe I was actually dead.  _

“It’s sweet that you give your old mentor the benefit of the doubt,” Cobb smirked. “Anyway, come along. We have places to be, people to meet.” 

William began walking towards a stairwell in the wall. Richard sighed and reluctantly followed his grandfather.  _ Have nothing better to do and I assume I’m in the League of Shadows base, so no way of fighting out of here.  _ The two walked in silence before coming out to a long hallway. The hallway was more like a balcony. Richard noticed the chill in the air and watched as snow spun around.  _ Yep. Shadows main base.  _ He remembered Bruce telling him about the base once. Richard followed Cobb out of the balcony/hallway and into the snow. A black helicopter waited for them. William lead Richard to the copter and guided him in. Richard sat down as Cobb closed the door.

“Hey, kiddo. You really had me worried there for a while, coming here all covered in blood and messed up. You barely had a pulse. You’re lucky the Pit even saved you.” A familiar voice came from the pilot's seat.

“Cheshire.” Richard greeted.

Cheshire sighed at the formal greeting.

“You can call me Jade, you know.” She said as they began to lift off the ground.

“Can. Won’t. Last I checked, I’m still a good guy, and I’m not feeling the aster right now.” Richard responded. 

“Ah yes. The whole Court business and family relations to Mr. Cobb here.” She purred.

“You two know each other?” Richard asked.

“Who do you think kept an eye on you?” Cobb asked.

Richard looked at the side of her face.

“I guess betrayal runs in the family doesn’t it,” Richard growled.

“I like your spark kid, just like your mother,” William said.

Richard sighed and turned his attention to the window. He watched the snow swirl around outside as they flew to their destination.

* * *

 

The team had been called to the mission room. They didn't know why. They weren't supposed to have any missions until next week. They all exchanged looks of confusion but walked to the mission room. Aqualad was the first to enter. He froze at the sight of a short figure next to Batman. 

“Robin?” He asked hopefully. 

He knew Robin was dead but couldn't help the small hope that screamed he was alive. He knew this to be naive and untrue. Robin is dead and couldn't have survived that shot. Aqualad cleared his throat and approached Batman and the small male. He heard the team walking in behind him. 

“Who is this?” Aqualad questioned. 

“Red Robin,” Batman answered. 

Everyone noticed the slight tremor in Batman's voice when he said, Robin. 

“He will be joining you from now on,” Batman said sternly. 

“Replacing Robin?! Hell no!” Kid Flash immediately disagreed. “How could you just replace Robin?!”

“I'm not replacing him! I'm just a new member. I don't plan on acting like the first.” Red Robin growled. 

He knew this was going to happen. Tim Drake told Bruce this was a bad idea, and he was right.

“Believe me, this wasn't my idea.”

“Don't think that just because you're a Robin means that you're accepted or needed,” Artemis growled.

“Guys. Don't you think you're acting a little too hostile? He is new, and he said this wasn't his idea.” Miss Martian tried to calm her two angry friends.  “Connor?”

Superboy looked pissed. His jaw was tight and fist clenched. Miss Martian knew there would be no support from him. He was just as angry as Artemis and Kid Flash. Miss Martian turned to Aqualad. He looked lost and looked at her with confusion and hopelessness. He didn't know how to calm them either. 

“I'm not asking that you like him. I'm telling you he will be joining the team.” Batman said with authority. “If I have to send you on a mission to force you to work together, I will.”

Batman turned and headed towards the zeta tubes. He was gone with a flash of light. Red Robin looked at the four teens in front of him and sighed.  _ This is going to be a long day.  _

“So...how are you guys?”

* * *

 

Richard got out of the helicopter and was pushed inside a familiar looking building.  _ Where do I know this from?  _ Richard followed Cobb into the worn building. Richard was surprised at the advanced technology the Court had in the place. 

“Welcome to headquarters,” William smirked. “Now, down to business.” 

William pressed a key on the vast keyboard and a picture of Batman and Robin filled the screen. 

“Anything weird?” Cobb asked. 

Richard examined the image and realized his hair was different in this photo. 

“My hair is styled differently.” He muttered. 

He looked closer and noticed he looked slightly bigger.  _ I'm small for my age, so I know I'm not that muscular.  _

“I'm more built,” Richard said again. 

“Hmm. Now watch.” Cobb ordered and pressed play. 

The image turned to a video, and Richard watched himself. Robin sloppily jumped down and began his messy attack.  _ That's not how I fight…it’s messy and untrained. _ Richard watched as Robin attacked with force and not grace. His stomach sank as a thought came over him. 

“That's not you,” Cobb said, confirming his suspensions. 

“...Who else could it be? Batman wouldn't just replace me like that.” Richard growled. 

“You’ve been considered dead for three, almost four, months. He clearly didn’t care that much if he already has a new partner. He didn’t even look for your body.” Cobb grinned.

William knew just what to say to get the boy to begin doubting his old mentor and come to be furious with him.

“Yes, he did! Bruce would never leave me for dead!” Richard yelled. “You’re lying!”

It was more to his own reassurance than to convince Cobb he was wrong. Richard couldn’t believe Bruce would just replace him. He wouldn’t believe these lies.

“Am I?” William said as he motioned to a new video.

It was of the cave. The fake Robin was sitting with the team and they were talking. It looked friendly. Richard looked in shock.  _ The team… They just moved on?! Just like that?! Robin’s dead? Oh no, we have a new one! A replacement!  _ Richard startled.  _ No. The team wouldn’t do that! None of them would, not the League, not Batman, not the team!  _ Cobb placed his hands on Richard’s shoulders. He leaned down to talk into Richard’s ear.

“See? You were nothing to them. You were expendable.” He paused. “But to me, you are a valuable asset. You are family, as well. Perhaps the most important thing to me right now.” 

Williams words slipped into Richard’s mind like poison. Richard remained silent and stared at the screen.

“...No. I refuse to believe that.” He said softly.

“Why? All the evidence is here. You have proof of the little worth you held to them. Why refuse my care?” William asked.

“I… don’t want to be a criminal, again.” Richard replied. “And I refuse to let myself to become one.”

“You think us criminals? We’re the same as you and Batman. We just don’t have a no-kill policy. We get the job done and make sure all the pests are gone for good.” William reasoned.

It may have been true, which it was, but Richard couldn’t believe it. These were the people who hurt Selina. They kill, blackmail, manipulate, and scare everyone. No one speaks of the Court because they will send a Talon for your head, and they did without hesitation. 

“Come on, why refuse? We will provide you with a home, with family. We can give you anything you want. I am your family. You’re blood. Don’t you want to be with your family?” William asked.

Richard’s resolution faulted at those words. He did want family, but that was Bruce, Alfred, and the rest of them.  _ But they think I’m dead.  _ The conversation from before occurred to him.

“You had a part in the murder of my parents. Why should I trust you? This could all be fake footage. There could be no new Robin. You could be lying about all of this!” Richard snarled.

“Ask me anything and I will answer honestly. I don’t lie. It’s your fault for not asking the right questions.” William said sternly.

Richard looked at him. “Did you plan the murder of my parents?” 

“I had a part in it, but it wasn’t just me,” William replied.

“Who else was involved?” Richard growled.

“Mr. Haley. Tony Zucco. There were some of Zucco’s guys involved, but they were killed later that year.” William replied easily.

“...Is this really true?” Richard said, referring to the footage and videos.

“Yes,” William answered.

Richard looked a little doubtful.

“If you want solid proof, just ask. I must warn you though, if you do ask, you will be considered my apprentice. You will serve under me.” William said.

Richard thought for a moment.

“Give me real evidence. If it is true, I...I will think about joining the Court.” Richard replied.

Cobb smirked smuggly. 

“Shall we go?”

* * *

 

Batman was out with Tim. They were on patrol. Nothing major had happened, just the regular thugs. The two were currently navigating through the city, looking for crime. Batman was rounding a building on his grapple when he saw a small, familiar figure out of the corner of his eye. He jerked to a stop on the nearest building, causing Red Robin to stop and ask if something was wrong. Batman continued to look for the same figure.

“I thought I saw something, but I didn’t. Let’s move.” He told Robin.

They went around another corner. Suddenly, Robin was kicked out of the air and sent sprawling towards the ground. Red Robin crashed into the ground and groaned. Above him was the small figure. He was dressed as a Talon. Batman hurried down and stood in front Robin, teeth gritted and showing. He growled.

“Now, now, I told you not to act rashly.” A man said.

He stepped up, behind the Talon and placed a hand on his shoulder. The man had an owl mask on. Batman looked at the Talon and Owl. 

“What do you want?” Batman growled.

The Talon stiffened and Batman swore he saw a tear drip from under the mask. The Talon turned away and began walking off. The Owl looked between his Talon and the vigilantes before following.

“Hey!” Robin yelled. “Come back here! You coward!”

The Talon spun around. The Owl placed his stern hand on the Talon’s shoulder.

“I’m the coward,” He laughed. “Says the replacement. And as for you, Batman, it’s disgusting how you can just replace something everyone thought you desperately cared for.” 

Batman didn’t respond but his jaw clenched. 

The Owl nudged the Talon and the two grappled up and disappeared.

* * *

 

William and Richard were back in headquarters. Richard yanked his mask off and threw it onto the floor. Tears welled in his eyes and a few had already fallen.  _ Bruce never cared! William was right! DAMN IT!  _ Richard cursed his personality for letting himself believe they cared and that they didn’t replace him. William came over and wiped his tears, acting like the grandfather he was. 

“I told you, why didn’t you believe me? Now look at you, in pain and crying.” William said, his sorrow slightly voiced. “Do you believe me now? You matter to me. You’re my family, and I’m sorry for letting you see that. I wish it never happened.” William needed Richard to think he cared for the boy, and it was working.

“I don’t understand why this keeps happening to me,” Richard said softly, tears falling one by one.

“I know. I’m so sorry.” William said, wiping the tears.

Richard leaned his head against his grandfather's chest and let out a shaky sigh. William slowly, carefully wrapped his arms around the boy. 

“I know this is not the best time, but I need to know if you are joining me,” William said gently.

Richard was silent for a moment. He had made his decision the moment he saw Red Robin. Richard steeled himself in his sorrow filled anger, letting it create solid resolve.

“...yes.”


	6. Chapter 6

Batman was in the Batcave reminiscing over the encounter with the Talon and Owl.  _ Why would the Owl accompany the Talon? It makes no sense. Sure the Talon looked young...and familiar, but that’s no reason to go with the Talon…. Unless the Talon was new or allowed his emotions to easily take over. The Owl did comment on the Talons sudden attack… _ He was interrupted by Tim in the Robin uniform.

“Can we go out and find that Talon? I want to actually fight, and he seemed more than capable of doing so.” He said.

“No. Talons are dangerous and far more experienced than you,” Batman replied.

Red Robin sighed.

“...Would you go after him if I were Grayson?” He asked.

Batman gave him a stern look.

“No.” He growled.

“Why do you get so touchy whenever Grayson is brought up?” Tim asked, frustrated.

“We haven’t found his body,” Batman answered, trying to keep his temper in check.

“So?” Tim replied.

“So, Richard could still be out there. We could’ve been tricked. Or his body could be being used for experiments. Perhaps he’s in the river. Point is, the dead shouldn’t be disgraced.” Batman answered.

“We both know he’s probably dead. It’s been, what, four months. The chances of this kid being alive are practically zero. I never knew him, but from what I hear, he was nice and is now dead.” Tim said.

“I know the statistics,” Batman replied, ignoring the rest of what Tim said.

“I’m going to the cave,” Tim said after a while.

“In your uniform?” Bruce questioned.

Tim looked at himself and placed an embarrassed hand on his neck.

“...No.” He said and left to change.

Bruce returned to dwelling on the Talon and what seemed to bother him about the assassin. He replayed the encounter in his head. He went back to when he thought he saw a tear fall from the mask.  _ It did happen. Why, though? Why would a Talon be crying? ...Forced? Already upset? Maybe I didn’t stop something from happening, and the kid lost his family...or Joker happened and he blamed me for that.  _ There were so many things racing through his head that he didn’t realize Tim had left to Mount Justice.  _ The Owl. Was he the reason? That’s likely. But what did he do?  _ The whole thing bothered Bruce, and he couldn’t figure out why.  _ Something’s off about all this. _ He sighed and began tracking down Joker, who had recently broken out of Arkham. He decided to forget about it for now and come back to dissecting the encounter.

* * *

 

Richard was sitting with William in a Court meeting; he was zoning out and thinking of the recent events.  _ Am I overreacting? Maybe this is all just a misunderstanding.  _ His face showed his thoughts and doubts. 

“Richard, what's weighing on your mind?” William asked. 

“...nothing,” Richard replied. 

“Clear the room,” William commanded. 

The other Talons and Owls followed the order and left. 

“Do you want to tell me now?” William asked. 

“...I...I don't think I should be doing this…does Bruce even know what happened?” Richard said, expressing his doubts. 

“I'm not sure, but either way he replaced you. Doesn't that mean he didn't care enough? He didn't even look for you.” William buried the knife of manipulation further into Richard's mind.

“Yeah...but-”

“No buts. You here with us, your family. Blood is thicker than water.” William pressed. 

Richard couldn't deny that he was right. Blood was thicker than water, but Bruce was in that awkward, murky mix of blood and water. He was considered family, but he wasn't family. Family was here even if he didn’t want it to be. Richard knew that Bruce had mourned his death. He had to. The last time Richard checked, he was Bruce’s stabilizer, his world besides Alfred. His death had to have taken a toll on Alfred and Bruce. Richard had to believe that if he wanted to leave the Court, but it was getting harder and harder to continue believing that when evidence was piling against Bruce. A new Robin, the team working with said Robin.  _ Tim Drake the new Wayne ward after Richard Grayson, who died last month in a robbery.  _ The headline rang in his head.  _ He replaced me...No. No, he didn’t he moved on. That’s completely different. Did he mourn? There’s no proof that he did. My death had to have an effect, even if I’m not seeing it. Speaking of which, I don’t remember dying. Or what happened before that.  _ He looked at William.  _ He said he would tell the truth no matter what…  _

“How did I die?” Richard asked.

“I shot you,” William responded. “Haven’t you looked at yourself? All your scars are still there; I just added another.”

_ I’ll have to check that. _

“What happened before you shot me? No,  _ why  _ did you shoot me?” Richard said.

“I...I needed you to see the reality of the League. The reality of what you meant to them.” William answered.

“How...did they respond?” Richard asked.

“They were surprised at first, a few started crying, but they quickly got to their senses and dispersed, like it never happened,” William replied.

“...How do you know that?” Richard asked.

_ How did he know what their reactions were? He has to have some way of watching them.  _

“We hacked their system, gained access to cameras and such,” Cobb answered.

“Can I see? Do you have a recording?” Richard asked.

William looked at Richard. “I’m afraid not. We withdrew from their systems when Batman caught on to our hack a few weeks ago. The files were corrupted by his defense.” 

Richard looked down. “Can we go out again?” He muttered.

“As Talon and Owl? Yes. As William and Richard? I advise against it.” Cobb answered.

It was a hard decision for Richard. He wanted to go fight something and release the pent-up hurt and anger, but on the other hand, he wanted to go a cry in a corner. He opted to fight. He hated crying.

“Talon and Owl.” He answered.

* * *

 

Richard and William stood on top of one of the many skyscrapers in Gotham. Richard was dressed as a Talon and William as an Owl.

“What exactly are you trying to prove?” William asked.

“Nothing,” Richard said, which was true; he wasn’t trying to prove anything.

“Alright, allow me to rephrase, what exactly are you trying to do?” Cobb questioned.

“I just want some action, can’t let my fighting get rusty,” Richard answered.

“Is that all this is about?” William pressed.

“...No, but that’s not the point.” Richard replied.

William sighed. 

“This is you taking your anger out, isn’t it?” William guessed, turning towards Richard.

Richard stayed silent, emotionless mask staring out at the city. William sighed again.

“You’re wanting to confront Bruce and his new Robin, Tim Drake,” William said.

“Does that matter?” Richard almost growled.

William sighed once more.

“I guess not, as long as you stay relatively hidden and don’t mess up,” William replied.

“I wo-” Richard was cut off by a foot smashing into his face.

He was sent flying across the skyscraper, almost falling off. He rolled to a stop just before the edge. He picked himself up and faced his attacker. William was still standing where he was before. He hadn’t moved or even flinched from his relaxed posture. Standing over Richard was Batman. Red Robin was near William. The boy was looking at him with curiosity. 

“Really?! Nothing?!” Richard yelled at him.

“This is your fight. I will interfere only when needed. Otherwise, I am looking over my beautiful city and admiring it.” William responded over his shoulder.

Richard sighed.

“You knew this was going to happen, didn’t you.” Richard accused.

William only looked over his shoulder, due to the Owl mask, Richard could only assume he was smiling at him before focusing on the city. Richard sighed. 

Dick turned back to Batman. Robin now beside him.

“Why hello. Again.” He sassed.

“Talon.” Batman hissed as a greeting.

“You know, I find it entertaining how you know my name, but you don’t know you know my name.” Richard teased.

Robin looked confused while Batman seemed to get it, but Richard knew it confused him as well. 

“I know your name,” Batman said uncertainly. 

“You do.” Richard teased again.

Batman’s eyes narrowed.

Richard laughed and prepared for an attack. He made an advantage of his knowledge of Batman’s body language. He knew Batman was going to attack before Batman knew what he was going to do. Red Robin was going to be a problem. Richard was well aware of Bruce’s emphasis on teamwork between Batman and Robin. He wanted to be able to communicate without words and know what the other was going to do. That made this a little easier. Batman and Robin work together. That means they must coordinate. Batman’s attacks would be followed up by Robin’s attacks. Richard grinned behind his mask. Being an ex-Robin really paid off when fighting Batman. 

Batman surged forward, powerful, armored fist raised. Richard jumped up, placed his hand on Batman’s outstretched arm, and used it to push himself up into the air. Maneuvering in the air, Richard twisted towards Robin and kicked him in the face. Robin was sent sprawling across the skyscraper. Richard, with his back facing Batman, ducked as Batman lunged over him. Batman rolled into a crouch. The two stared at each other.

“You’re very predictable, you know that?” Richard snarked.

Batman growled a response. His muscles tightened.

“You’re about to surge forward and try to punch me in the stomach,” Richard predicted.

Batman’s muscles relaxed.

Richard laughed. “I was right, wasn’t I?”

“How are you doing that?” Red Robin asked, incredulously.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Richard replied mysteriously.

Robin jumped over Batman and aimed a kick at Richard’s face. Richard narrowly dodged by jerking backward and turning his face. Richard then saw an opaque version of Robin standing up quickly from his landing and swinging around to try to kick him again. Richard expected to feel the kick and braced himself. Nothing happened, but Robin suddenly stood up. 

“What the hell?!” Richard said as Robin began the kick.

The opaque Robin had disappeared. Richard grabbed Red Robin’s leg and threw gas pellet down on the ground, so Batman wouldn’t interfere. 

“What the hell was that? What did you do?” Richard growled, tightening his grip.

“Nothing!” Robin thrashed.

Richard gritted his teeth, jerked Robin’s leg backward and past him, then kicked Robin’s back, knocking him down. Richard placed his foot on Robin’s spine. The smoke was beginning to clear.

“Sorry if I don’t believe you. Are you even human?” Richard growled

“Y-Yes.” Robin gasped out.

Richard knelt down and took out a blade. He dragged it across Robin’s cheek. Blood seeped from the wound.

“You bleed, but that doesn’t mean you’re not Martian or Kryptonian,” Richard growled. “Are you a Cadmus clone?”

“No!” Robin thrashed.

Batman came out of the smoke and kicked Richard off Robin. Red Robin scrambled across the skyscraper then stood. There was a tear in his side, revealing bruised, red skin.

“It’s rude to interrupt people, and you’ve done it twice.” Richard sassed. His forgotten anger bubbling up.

“It didn’t seem to be an important conversation,” Batman replied.

“Right, right. The only important conversation to you, Bruce, is about crime fighting and the secret life of a vigilante!” Richard’s anger began taking over.

William turned towards the three fighters, keeping a watchful eye over Richard.

“How do you know my name?” Batman growled.

Richard realized his mistake.

“You know my name. It’s only fair I know yours and Drake’s.” Richard answered.

Robin tensed at his name.

“We don’t know your name!” He protested. “If we did, we would already have you in jail!” 

“You don’t know you know my name.” Richard corrected. “There’s a difference between the two.” 

“Why don’t you give us a hint,” Batman suggested.

“No way. That would give it away and ruin my fun.” Richard replied.

Batman threw a batarang, which Richard dodged, and surge forwards, landing a kick to Richard’s face causing his face to snap to the left and his mask to go skidding across the skyscraper and falling off. Richard’s black, white-streaked hair covered his face.

“Always interrupting.” He said, slowly turning towards Batman.

William’s hand covered his face before Batman could see it.

“I’m afraid this is where this encounter ends,” William said, almost sweetly, backing up.

He got to the edge of the skyscraper and shot a grapple, then he jumped off and carried Richard with him. Richard allowed himself to be carried away, feeling somewhat numb as his rage left him. They landed in front of headquarters. William pushed Richard by the shoulders.

“What were you thinking?! Never reveal your face to the enemy!” William scolded.

“I’m sorry. I was just so angry!” Richard replied.

“Well don’t let it happen ever again!” William yelled and stalked inside.

Richard glared after him and then followed. 


	7. Chapter 7

Richard was walking beside William towards an Owl meeting. He had been with the Court for a couple of weeks and they were beginning to trust him with documents and gave him some work to do around the base. He still wasn’t sure why the headquarters was familiar to him, but it was. He had asked William about it and the man said he had been here before. Richard didn’t remember coming here.  _ Maybe when I was younger.  _ The two walked inside a room with an oval shaped table and sat beside each other on the right side. All of the people there had owl masks. Richard was the only one with a talon mask. Some of the Owls were women. However, they all looked as though they had money, and some of them looked vaguely familiar. Some of the people had masks that didn’t belong to the Court. Richard assumed they were businessmen and women. A Talon, Richard recognized her as Ali, one of the more powerful Talons, came into the room, closed the door, and stood as a guard near the door. The Talon looked around the room, her mask lingered on Richard but moved on. She nodded at William. That was the signal for the meeting to start. William stood up and cleared his throat.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome.” He said sweetly as he looked around. “Shall we get down to business?” 

“Who’s the Talon?” One of the masked men said.

“This is my...apprentice,” William answered. “Anyway, shall I go first or does someone else wish to start?” 

Williams question was met answered with silence. 

“I’ll go first then. The Court has expanded its branches globally. We now have a headquarters in every country. We will soon know everything. The Court has been keeping an eye of the League and, so far, they have no idea of the coming war. The Light and the Court have decided to work together to rid the world of the Justice League. We think they are unfit to fight crime, and the Light just wants them out of the way. I speak on behalf of both organizations when I say, we would love for any of you to help our cause and contribute any resources. We wish for someone to give us manpower, technology, and, perhaps, money.”

“How exactly do you plan on removing the Justice League?” A woman with a peacock inspired eye mask asked.

“Simple, make the people hate them and cut off their supplies,” William answered.

“And how will you go about doing that?” The woman asked.

“The Light has already begun to ruin their reputation. During the mind-control attack, they sent various heroes from the League into space to wreak havoc on various planets. They are hated by some alien races and word is sure to spread around.” William replied.

“Won’t some aliens attack Earth because of this?” A man with a lion mask asked.

“Yes, but the Court is coming up with plans to prevent that. As you know, we can be very resourceful and strategic.” William said. 

Richard could hear the man’s grin.

“May we hear from your apprentice?” A woman with a cat mask asked.

William nodded and sat down. Richard slowly stood. 

“What would you like to know, Ma’am?” He asked.

“Such a gentleman. Anyway, I would like to know some of your ideas about how to approach the prevention of alien attacks.” The woman said.

“Well, I think if we create a system that cuts off zeta beam transportation to Earth, that would help. The Court could also create a weaponized alarm system to alert us if anything is entering space near us.” Richard said.

The cat masked woman stayed silent after that. She didn’t respond. Richard found it weird, but he chose not to comment.

“Very smart, and what about the League?” The peacock masked woman asked.

“I apologize. I don’t follow…” Richard answered as he looked at the woman.

“How do you plan on taking the League out of the game?” 

“I disagree with the Court and Light plan of action and think we should create tension inside the League. Make them tear themselves apart from the inside, create an internal war. It would sufficiently ensure the League would part ways and have difficulty working together and reforming. They would be too weak to fight. In their weakness, we can strike and eliminate any threat they pose.” He answered.

Richard didn’t know why he was going along with taking out the League, but he was and he knew William was proud. That was really all that mattered at the moment. Richard heard a faint gasp come from the cat masked woman, and he stared at her. He narrowed his eyes from behind the stoic face of the mask.  _ A mole?  _ He turned back to the other woman but looked at William out of the corner of his eyes. The man’s mask was facing forwards, but Richard thought he was looking at Cat Mask.

“You are very intelligent. I look forward to working with you.” The woman purred.

Richard nodded in thanks and sat down. Peacock Woman stood up.

“I speak on behalf of Deval Technologies. We have gotten very far in our biotechnology and think it is a very promising field. We are beginning animal trials two weeks from now. Our computer systems have made minimal progress, but our controlled weapons division has created a fully functioning, unmanned tank. It can be controlled by a computer or phone. It has a few issues, but they are being fixed as we speak. Any questions?” Peacock Woman said.

“What does this promise in biotechnology consist of?” William asked.

“So far, we have been able to theoretically control animals mind, make them mutate in any way we wish and are able to change features to create new species.” She answered.

William nodded and the woman sat down. The lion masked man stood.

“I speak on behalf of Wayne Industries. Mr. Wayne is unaware of where is merchandise is going, so I wish to keep this confidential. I have three of the newest, most advanced weapons and some of the technology we have created. This includes the latest security measures for any electronic.” The man said.

Richard’s eyes widened as he processed the information.  _ The Court is getting Wayne tech? Bruce doesn’t even know! He’s Batman! He needs to know!   _ Richard stopped himself.  _ No, you shouldn’t care about him anymore! Whatever happens with the League or Team doesn’t matter. You hate them, Richard! They didn’t care about you. They didn’t even look for your body. The team replaced you. Batman replaced you! They don’t care, get that through your head!  _ Richard steeled himself. During his mental battle, Lion Mask sat down and another man, wearing a panther mask, stood up.

“I speak on behalf of Porras and Bordier Company. We have gotten far in our bioweapons. We have successfully weaponized diseases such as smallpox and are creating a new, deadlier version of the black plague.” He said. 

No one raised a question, so he took his seat. A woman with a wolf eye-mask stood up and cleared her throat.

“I speak on behalf of Cadmus Laboratories. We have used our genomes as weapons and it went great. It was very prosperous. The weapons performed wonderfully. We plan on creating another clone, this one of either Superman, Martian Manhunter, or Batman. We are aware that Batman is human, but that does not pose any problems in the cloning process.” She said.

This went on for two hours. Richard listened to each company and the questions asked. He even asked some questions of his own, with permission. It was quite boring and had Richard itching to do something by the end of the meeting. He shifted frequently after an hour of sitting in the meeting. It was boring, and Richard was an active person, always on the move. He started to bounce his leg in boredom, but that was stopped by William as he rested a hand on Richard’s leg and left it to rest there for a few seconds to get the message across. Richard bit his lip when William did that. He was a little afraid of what William might do. When the last person spoke, William stood.

“Thank you all for attending this meeting. The next will be three months from now, on June 9th at four a.m. Dismissed.” He said sweetly as the Talon stepped from the door and allowed it to open. 

Richard stood to go talk to Ali, the Talon.

“You do this at every meeting?” Richard asked.

“Yeah, it’s boring, but it has to be done,” Ali replied.

“I cannot sit there for two hours,” Richard said as he leaned against the wall beside Ali.

“I know. I saw you shift and I saw when you bounced your leg and Owl 1 put his hand on your leg to stop you. You stiffened. I found it entertaining.” She said.

Richard could hear her grin. The Talons referred to the Owls as Owl 1 or whatever number they were ranked. There were seven owls and each had a number somewhere on their torso or face. 

“I’m a thirteen-year-old acrobat. What do you expect?” Richard replied. 

Ali laughed a little. 

“Well, Little One, Owl 1 expects the best out of you, despite your age,” Ali replied.

Richard knew the Indian woman was right and sighed.

“Not much different for all my other higher-ups.” He muttered.

“Richard, come,” William ordered.

“Later, Ali,” Richard said as he left the woman.

“Bye, Richard.” She replied.

Richard caught up with William and fell into step with him.

“Are you ready to go out on a mission?” William asked seriously.

The question caught Richard off guard and he looked at William.

“I am, but I thought the Court agreed that letting me out on missions was a bad idea. You guys didn’t want me out in the city and to be known yet.” Richard answered.

“We don’t. You’re not going out alone and it’s a simple heist.” William replied.

“What do you mean?” Richard asked. 

_ Partner? And what am I stealing? He never fully tells me anything. It’s frustrating. _

“You’ll be stealing a magical artifact called the God’s Eye from Gotham Museum. Deathstroke will be joining you and making sure the heroes don’t see you. You are to stay out of sight. Not seen in cameras or by anyone. Got it?” William said.

“...Yeah. Got it.” Richard answered.

He wanted to protest. Richard really didn’t want to work with Slade. He was still scared of the man. However, Richard kept his mouth shut. He didn’t want to cause his grandfather any more problems and didn’t want to act like the annoying grandson he could be. Richard knew he wouldn’t be getting any special treatment from anyone associated with the Court because he was Owl 1’s grandson. If anything, they’d be harder on him. 

“Deathstroke’s waiting for you down in the garage. You two will be riding there.” William informed.

Richard nodded and headed down. He was glad he got to ride one of the sleek, black motorcycles there. He loved riding motorcycles. He stepped into the garage and saw Deathstroke in full armor.

“Richard.” He said in greeting as he looked over Richard’s Talon uniform.

“Slade,” Richard replied.

Richard went over to one of the motorcycles, keys in hand, and straddled it. He checked his watch.  _ 10:49. People will still be out.  _

“Follow you or…?” Richard asked.

“Separate ways,” Deathstroke replied. 

Richard nodded and fired up the motorcycle. It’s roar filled the garage and it was joined by Deathstroke’s orange and black motorcycle. Richard drove out of the garage and towards Gotham Museum.  _ I’ll park in the alley near the museum.  _ Richard pulled into the alley and turned the motorcycle’s key. Deathstroke arrived a few seconds later, parking in the same alley.

“Vents?” Richard asked.

“Vents,” Deathstroke replied.

The two grappled up to the top of the museum and Richard took off a vent cover. He crawled inside and began searching for the God’s Eye. Looking through the vent covers, he saw a sign that said ‘New Attraction: the God’s Eye’ and pointed to the right towards a closed doorway. He took off the vent cover and placed it in the ventilation airway in front of him. Richard poked his head inside and saw a guard in the low light patrolling the building. Richard silently dropped from the vents and immediately rolled into the shadows and stood. Richard watched Deathstroke do the same, but in the opposite direction, away from the God’s Eye exhibit. 

**_“I’ll take care of the guard,”_ ** Richard said to Deathstroke through the comlink.

**_“No, you can’t be seen. Besides, you’ll have to kill him, if you did.”_ ** Deathstroke replied.

Richard watched Deathstroke silently make his way over to the guard. Richard felt the urge to call out to the unsuspecting man as Deathstroke crouched behind a counter in front of him. Richard resisted and the man walked past Deathstroke, not knowing he was there. Deathstroke stood up behind him and stalked his prey. In a quick, fluid movement, Deathstroke broke the man’s neck with a sickening crack. Richard sighed and turned his attention to the door. There was an electrical lock that required a thumbprint. 

“Shit,” Richard said.

**_“Deathstroke, we need a thumbprint to open the door.”_ ** He informed the mercenary.

**_“I’ll take care of it.”_ ** The man replied.

Confused, Richard looked back at Deathstroke, who was bent over the guard’s body. His arm was moving. Realization washed over Richard and he suddenly felt sick. His hand reached under his mask and covered his mouth. Once Richard composed himself, he let his hand fall. Deathstroke approached him with something in his hand.

“Here.” The mercenary said as he handed the guard’s thumb to Richard. 

Richard bit his lip and slowly took the appendage from Deathstroke. Richard pressed the pad of the thumb to the print scanner and the lock clicked. Richard quickly dropped the flesh and opened the door. A soft purple light radiated from a purple orb in the center of the room on a pedestal. He looked at in awe. It was beautiful. The orb was filled with what looked like stars and galaxies. Deathstroke pushed past him and went to grab the orb.

“No! Wait!” Richard yelled.

It was too late; Deathstroke had already taken the orb off the pedestal and alarms went off.

“Pressure plate, you novice,” Richard said, miserably.

The two turned and sprinted towards the door. Deciding to be reckless, they broke the glass doors and ran before the authorities could come. They disappeared into the alley and started their motorcycles. Wasting no time, they raced out and back to the Court headquarters. They drove into the garage and idled before quieting the motorcycles. Richard took off his mask. 

“We have the God’s Eye, yes?” He asked.

“Yes,” Deathstroke replied.

The feeling of dread still enveloped both of them. The Court didn’t like attention or failure, and they brought attention and failed to keep this quiet. 

“We can’t stay here forever,” Deathstroke said as he got off the motorcycle seat. 

Richard did the same, and they began to walk towards Owl 1’s office. The two stood outside the door. Deathstroke rested a hand on Richard’s shoulder. Richard almost shoved the offending hand away, almost.

“I will try to protect you. All of this is my fault.” He said.

Richard looked at Slade in confusion. Richard couldn’t believe it. Slade actually seemed like he cared. Richard found it not quite sweet but smiled anyway.

“I-” Richard started by was cut off by William.

“Richard! Slade! Get your asses in here! NOW!” William boomed angrily through the heavy oak door. 


	8. Chapter 8

Richard and Slade slowly opened William’s office door and stepped inside, closing the door behind them. Richard kept his eyes on the floor, trying not to look the infuriated William Cobb in the eyes. Slade stared at the man lazily. Richard was completely scared of what the man might do as a result of their failure. Fearfully, Richard looked up and stared Cobb in the eyes. William breathed in and that began his assault.

“What is wrong with you two?! I gave you specific orders NOT to attract ANY attention, and what do you do?! SET OFF THE GODDAMNED ALARMS! I can’t believe you made the rookie mistake to not check for any security systems!” William stopped to breathe and try to calm himself.

“It was all my fault. I ignored Richard’s efforts to tell me what to do and proceeded anyway. I set off the alarms.” Slade said.

“That doesn’t matter! I don’t care who is responsible! As far as I’m concerned, it was both of you and both of you will be punished.” Cobb hissed angrily.

He paused and tried to compose himself once again.

“Please tell me you got the God’s Eye.” He said, anger still injected in his voice.

“Yes, Slade has it,” Richard responded quietly, gesturing to Slade.

Slade took out the orb and gave set it on the desk. It’s purple light very faint in the lit room. William looked at it and grinned.

“Good.” He said as he sat down. “Your punishments will be decided later on today. Dismissed.” 

Richard all but ran out of Williams office. He walked briskly down the hall and to his quarters. He quickly closed the door, his back resting against the wooden door. He slid down and rested his head on his knees and let out a heavy sigh.  _ William is absolutely pissed.  _ Richard automatically began to stress over what punishment William was going to give them.  _ Good thing is, it’s not just me. Slade’s getting punished too. Speaking of which, where did he go?  _ Richard thought on it before deciding he would have to go outside and find him. He slowly got up from his position and stood. He put his hand on the doorknob. He slowly opened the door and peeked out.  _ No Talons. No Owls. No Cobb. Great.  _ He crept out and stuck to the shadows of the halls. He decided to check the training arena first. He made his way down the grey halls and to the arena. He looked in and saw some Talons training but no Slade.  _ Maybe the garage?  _ Richard turned and ran straight into a chest. He looked up and made eye contact with William.  _ Aw man.  _

“H-Hey! Will! I was just um...looking fo-” Richard stuttered.

William looked down on him and, suddenly, there was a cloth over Richard’s mouth. He struggled against the strong arms holding him. He looked desperately at William. William had a sad expression. Richard’s eyes showed confusion and betrayal as his consciousness began to fade. 

“Don’t worry. You’re going to be fine.” Williams' voice faded and Richard lost consciousness.

* * *

 

“Catwoman?!” Exclaimed Black Canary. “How did you get into the cave?!” 

Catwoman had appeared out of the zeta tubes dressed in a long, tight blue dress and interrupted the Team’s training session. She had on a cat mask, but her hair was brown. The only reason the team and Canary knew it was her was because of the zeta tube. She seemed out of breath.

“Where’s Bru-atman?” She asked.

“With the League,” Canary responded.

“Call him. I have some news I think he’ll want to hear. Maybe the League too.” She said.

Canary looked at her with confusion. The team shared looks and Robin stepped forward.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“Get them,” Catwoman demanded.

Canary went over to the comms and connected to the Watchtower. 

**_“Canary to League.”_ ** She said.

**_“Superman speaking. The rest on the League is with me.”_ **

**_“Catwoman is here saying she has some information Batman would want to hear. She also thinks the League will too.”_ ** Canary responded.

**_“We’ll be down in a minute,”_ ** Superman responded.

Batman was the first to materialize in the cave. Behind him followed the other Leaguers.

“The news?” He asked.

Selina inhaled to speak.

“I think-”

* * *

 

Richard groaned as he woke up. He was laying on a concrete floor in a square, gray room. Richard sat up and looked around. There was no evident door, but there was a small, gated hole in the lower portion of the wall to the right of him. He heard breathing from the other side. Richard bent down and looked through. He saw Slade slumped on the wall across from the hole. He was knocked out, but he had a small blood trail running down his face, along the frame of his cheekbone. 

“Slade.” Richard tried to wake him.

No response.

“Slade!” He said louder.

No response.

“Slade!” He practically yelled.

Slade’s head lolled about before his focus returned to him and he sat up, ramrod straight. Slade looked around.

“Hey!” Richard said to him.

It took a second for Slade to realize where Richard’s voice was coming from.

“Hey, kid. What’s going on?” He asked as he wiped some of the blood away.

“Don’t know. I think this is the punishment Owl 1 was talking about.” Richard answered.

“Solitary confinement? I would’ve thought it would be harsher than this.” Slade said.

**_“I wouldn’t assume so soon.”_ ** William’s voice came through an overhead speaker.

**_“Things are about to get very interesting. Think of this as intense training.”_ ** A different, unrecognizable voice said.

The wall on the far left sunk into the floor, revealing a bunch of thugs being held back by a gate. They didn’t look sane or friendly. Richard stepped back a little bit. He tensed and got into a defensive stance. 

“Slade?!” Richard yelled.

“You have a bunch of thugs, kid?” Slade replied.

“Yeah,” Richard answered.

“Me too. You have any weapons?” Slade questioned.

“...No,” Richard replied regretfully.

A scratching sound came from the hole. A knife was slipped through and clattered on the floor.

“Do you have any other weapons?” Richard asked, worry in his tone.

“No, but I’ll be fine. Besides, if anyone is getting out unscathed, it better be you.” Slade responded.

Richard hesitantly wielded the knife and went into an offensive stance. The gates began to lift.

There was a second of peace before the thugs ran forwards.


	9. Chapter 9

“Can you say that one more time?” Kid Flash asked.

“I think Richard is alive,” Catwoman repeated.

She had said it before, but no one comprehended the information. Batman had tensed but otherwise stayed silent. His mind was completely blank, something that doesn’t happen often. At the sentence, everyone looked at Batman.

“Do you know anything about this?” Superman asked.

Batman didn’t respond, but looked down, away from Robin’s curious stare.

“There’s no way he’s alive! We’ve been over this,” Robin said.

“We never found his body,” Batman muttered thoughtfully.

“Then explain how Ri- he could be alive.” Robin hissed.

“He can’t be!” Robin yelled when his demand was met with silence.

“We never found his body! Nothing! His corpse wasn’t found anywhere, and I scoured Gotham! We don’t even know if his heart stopped!” Batman yelled in return.

“You’re just clinging onto false hope! He’s dead! You said it yourself.” Robin said angrily.

“Doesn’t mean I believed it,” Batman gritted as he turned.

“Where are you going?” Robin yelled after him.

“Gotham,” Batman answered.

With that, he dematerialized and went to Gotham.

* * *

 

The thugs were easy to take care of, but there was a lot of them. Richard was tiring, but the wave of criminals didn’t seem to be anywhere near done. Richard heard grunts and the sounds of flesh hitting flesh and more grunts from the other side of the wall. These guys weren’t in their right mind. They were animalistic, clawing and bearing their teeth with snarls at Richard.

“Slade?” Richard yelled as he punched a nameless criminal. 

“Fine. You?” Slade returned. 

“Getting tired. What do you think is wrong with them?” Richard answered.

Richard kicked one of the criminals in the chest sending him backward. The criminal crashed into the line of thugs following him.  _ How do I know they’re criminals? What if the Court took these men off the streets? _

“Drugs. Mind control. Anything really.” Slade replied.

“Yeah, but-” Richard started.

“Shit!” Slade yelled from the other side of the wall. 

A loud crash came from the wall and cracks spread from a damaged spot in the wall. 

“Slade?!” Richard yelled as he took down another thug.

“I-” Slade was cut off and more cracks split the wall with a loud crash.

There was a third loud collision, and Slade was sent through the wall and into Richard’s side. He was sent across the room and knocked Richard off his feet. Bane came through the hole in the wall and was in a similar state as the thugs. Bane stepped forwards and began sprinting forwards. He was still far away.

“Slade!” Richard said urgently.

Richard got no response, so he pushed the man off him and shot up just as Bane got close. Richard dove to the side, dodging Banes punch. Richard was soon surrounded by the other thugs and Bane. The number of opponents doubled as Slade's criminals joined with Richards. To make it even better, Mr. Freeze came from Richard’s side and joined the circle. 

“Slade!” Richard yelled as the thugs and Bane got closer. 

No response.

“Slade!” Richard yelled louder.

“It’s no use, boy.” Bane laughed.

_ He can talk? Is he conscious or is this mind control as Slade suggested?  _

“Are you being mind controlled?” Richard asked.

Neither criminal answered. 

“Come on, you have to give me something,” Richard argued.

Bane rushed forward just as Mr. Freeze shot ice. Richard jumped straight up and flipped over Mr. Freeze. Richard landed behind the ice villain in a crouch before straightening up and throwing a kick while spinning around. His kick hit the glass, and it began to crack. Bane punched Richard away from Mr. Freeze sending Richard into the wall creating a decent crater. He fell the floor as more criminals surrounded him. They began kicking and punching the boy. The criminals split to allow Bane through. The muscular man stepped through and hovered over the fallen boy. Bane grinned as he wrapped his hands around Richard’s thin neck. Bane lifted the boy up, his feet skimming the ground. Richard struggled against the strong man, but couldn’t get his airway free. Richards struggles slowed as his oxygen supply was cut off. Richard’s vision was black around the edges as he uselessly tried to gasp for breath. He made a choking sound as he began to close his eyes.

“Richard! No!” Slade yelled as he sprinted towards Richard and Bane.

Slade slammed his whole body weight against Bane, pushing the muscular man away from Richard. Richard greedily breathed in the air and panted. Slade immediately bent down to check on Richard and checked for damage to the airway. Slade released a relieved sigh when he found no signs of permanent damage and a strengthening pulse.

“Sl...Slade?” Richard said tiredly, still breathing in air greedily.

“Hang in there kid. I’ll take care of this.” Slade said gently as he stood.

Slade cracked his knuckles and looked over his shoulder at the criminals.

“You’ve made a grave mistake. I don’t usually care for anyone, but I’ve done many wrong things to this kid and I have to make up for it. I have to protect him. None of you are going lay a hand on him.” Slade hissed.

He turned to face them. His body taut and ready to lash out.

“Who’s first?” Slade asked.

Slade rushed forwards and snapped the neck of the closest thug. He began to kill them off as he moved quickly. Richard heard the action going on around him but was slowly losing consciousness. Richard’s eyes slid close and as was lost in the world of unconsciousness.

* * *

 

Batman was beating up Joker. It didn’t happen a lot, but Batman was letting off steam. He was frustrated and all of Gotham knew. Many criminals were badly beaten and some cops had even said, “Wow, Batman has got something goin’ on.” When they arrived on scene. Batman sighed as he knew he should be at the manor with Alfred, talking things over, but he couldn’t talk about his son without getting emotional.  _ Emotions. Emotions are very problematic.  _ Batman handed a badly beaten, almost unconscious Joker to Gotham PD and turned to leave.

“Batman.” Commissioner Gordon called out to him.

Batman turned back and looked at the man.

“Is everything okay?” Gordon asked.

“Yes,” Batman replied.

Gordon looked around.

“Is this about Robin?” Gordon questioned.

None of Gotham knew Richard was Robin or that there was a new Robin. Gotham knew Bruce Wayne was mourning his son, who had died during an attempted robbery turned murder of both Bruce and Richard. Gotham also knew Bruce took in another stray, Tim Drake. 

“What do you mean?” Batman asked.

“Well, you two aren’t working as well together. The Dynamic Duo has become less dynamic. And Robin has been acting weird. He’s different somehow.” Gordon responded.

“Different?” Batman asked.

The other officers were looking at them. Batman never stayed long, so why was he still here? Batman was usually all business and no small talk.

“He’s not acting like he usually does. Usually, he would wave bye as you two left. Robin hasn’t has his usual finesse, no flips or jumps, and he hasn’t used you as a play gym in a while too. He just isn’t as...happy as he usually is. He’s just not acting like Robin.” Gordon answered. “So is there anything going on I should know about?” 

Batman stared at Gordon before firing his grapple and disappearing.

“You didn’t answer any of my questions!” Gordon yelled after him.

* * *

 

Richard woke up to Slade wrapping his arms around him and picking him up. Richard looked around and saw bodies littering the floor. He sluggishly looked at Slade. The man had blood splatter on his face, neck, and chest. Richard moved his hand from its hang and pushed against Slade’s chest. Slade looked down at the weak, pushing hand.

“Hey, kid,” Slade said.

“I...can walk...by myself,” Richard said weakly.

“I’m sure you can, but I’m not taking that chance. Your grandfather's mad enough.” Slade responded as he walked.

“Where are we going?” Richard asked.

“One of the walls slid down into the floor and revealed a hallway. We’re still in headquarters, but I think our ‘training’ is over.” Slade answered.

Richard sighed and rested his head on Slade's chest. Slade laughed. 

“You seem pretty tired. You can sleep if you want.” Slade replied to Richard’s actions.

Richard hummed a response. Richard allowed his eyes to close. He vaguely felt Slade set him down on something soft and heard another, smug voice.

“Ah Richard, you passed with flying colors. Slade, bloody well done. Now, we can officially begin. Let’s start Project Ruler.” 


	10. Chapter 10

Richard woke up to very bright, eye-hurting lights. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. Once he could see, Richard looked around and saw that he was in the medical wing in Court headquarters. Richard swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood. Sluggishly, he changed out of the medical gown and into his Talon uniform.  _ Man, I am itching to do something. Maybe William has something for me. I would like to have another go at Batman or Replacement Robin.  _ Richards face twisted into a predatory grin.  _ That would be nice. Very nice.  _ Richard walked to Williams office door and gave a light knock.

“Come in.” A voice said from inside.

Richard opened the door, stepped in, and closed the door behind him. He walked over and sat in one of the two chairs facing Williams desk. William had a pen and was signing some papers.

“I’m bored,” Richard told the man.

“Train,” William responded, keeping his attention on the papers.

“I already did my training for the month. I would like to have a mission.” Richard said with a smile.

William sighed.

“All missions are taken care of. I have nothing for you.” William responded.

“Come on. Anything?” Richard asked.

William sighed again.

“I guess you can go to one of our warehouses and help protect our resources,” William said, frustrated.

Richard jumped up from the seat.

“Yes! Where’s the warehouse?” Richard said.

“Metropolis,” William responded.

“Awww, Superman’s city? I was hoping the Dark Knight’s city.” Richard sighed. “Can I ask what Slade is doing?” 

“Deathstroke is out on Court business,” William replied blandly.

“I could be too…” Richard hinted.

William looked at Richard. Richard endured for a few seconds before sighing, but not before Cobb gave in.

“If you want, you may go to the Gotham warehouse.” He said. 

“Yes! I’ll go to that warehouse.” Richard explained and walked out of the room.

* * *

 

Richard was dressed in full Talon attire. His mask in place and such. This time, however, he had a katana on his back, knives hidden in his suit, and guns holstered at his thighs. He was patrolling alone along the border of the warehouse. He had been patrolling for about forty-five minutes when he first noticed the shadows moving in the forest surrounding the warehouse. He kept his eye on it as he passed and spotted it again after going around the warehouse two times. The third time it had disappeared and, a second later, alarms went off, signaling intruders.  _ How did they get past all of us?  _ Richard rushed inside, drawing his katana while sprinting. Richard sprinted inside, following another Talon. Richard stepped inside and stopped to access the situation. Klarion was vortexing Talons to unknown places and taking down Talons with lightning and weird, red animal-like things.  _ What would a Lord of Chaos want? Klarion’s a member of the Light, the Court and Light are working together at the moment, aren’t they?  _

“Talon 1! Go! Run!” A younger Talon yelled at him.

“What? Why?” Richard yelled back as he dodged a lightning bolt.

“Sir, Klarion is-” The Talon started but was shocked by lightning.

“You!” Klarion yelled as he pointed at Richard.

Klarion grinned evilly before sending Teekl after him. The large cat stalked forwards to Richard, circling him predatorily.

“You have a large price on your head and I intend to take it.” Klarion laughed.

“Why?” Richard replied, keeping his eyes on the prowling cat.

“Simple, I want to and I found out who you used to be. Too much of side switching for my liking. One can never be sure of another's loyalties when they keep switching sides.” Klarion said. “This just gives me a good reason to come after you.” 

Richard gritted his teeth but kept his eyes on Teekl. 

“Why would you want a Talon?” Richard asked Klarion.

“Because that Talon is Richard Grayson. Your murder has a lot of conspiracy theories. Some think you weren’t killed but sold. Others believe you were kidnapped and your coffin is empty, which it is. I checked.” Klarion explained.

“Who has a bounty on me?” Richard questioned.

“The Light and League of Shadows.” Klarion laughed. “Even the Justice League. They all want a Talon, the Talon who follows the Owl closely.”

That was enough to cause Richard to be careless and snap his attention to Klarion. 

“The Justice Lea-” Richard started.

Teekl had taken advantage of this moment of vulnerability and pounced on Richard. Teekl’s claws sunk into Richard’s shoulders causing Richard to groan. Richard jerked his katana up to prevent Teekl from biting him. Richard struggled with the large cat’s mouth. Richard’s arms began to shake with effort. Richard struggled to push the cat back and, with a burst of strength, managed to push the cat off him. He stood quickly and faced Teekl. The two making eye contact. Richard raised his katana in front of him. Teekl growled. Richard gripped his weapon tighter.

“Tell me what you know about the Justice League’s bounty,” Richard demanded.

Teekl began moving to the left. Richard moved to the right.

“Why would I do that?” Klarion replied. 

“It’s not like I’ll be able to tell anyone,” Richard replied.

Klarion seemed to take this into consideration.

“Hmm, you have a point,” Klarion said thoughtfully.

Richard growled from behind his Talon mask.  _ I’m done playing games. I’ll take care of Teekl and then interrogate Klarion.  _ Richard raised his sword and rushed forwards Teekl. Teekl roared and jumped to embrace Richard. Teekl sunk sharp claws into Richard’s sides as Richard struggled with Teekl. Richard threw Teekl off him and dashed towards the exposed cat, katana ready to strike. Richard completely forgot about Klarion but was soon reminded as he was struck with lightning. Richard cried out, dropped his katana, and fell to his knees. The lightning stopped coursing through him in white-hot waves, Richard fell to the right and onto the cold, concrete floor. Richard’s eyes began closing as he passed out. Klarion walked over and bent down over Richards. He clicked a comlink in his ear.

**_“I've got your boy. I'll bring him to you.”_ ** Klarion said. 

**_“Good, no permanent harm I presume?”_ ** A male voice responded.

**_“Maybe a few bruises and cuts, but other than that, no,”_ ** Klarion replied.

**_“Good. I expect you soon.”_ ** The voice said. 

Klarion disconnected the comlink and picked up Richard, tossed him onto his shoulder, then began walking out, Teekl following.

* * *

 

Batman was in the cave and had been looking at pictures of Robin and the new, mysterious Talon side by side.  _ Same build. I remember his hair was the same as Robins. Wait, no. Talons had a white streak in it. Talons a bit taller too.  _ Batman heard footsteps and switched the Talon and Robin photos for a map of recent League missions. 

“Batman, the team is getting restless, do you have a mission for them?” Black Canary asked. 

Batman looked at her. 

“They haven't had a mission in a few weeks now…” She said. 

“I have one, but I'm not sure if I should give it to them. It's in Gotham, and it may have some involvement with the Court.” Batman responded. 

“I'm sure the team with some league assistance can handle it. Bruce...you don't have Richard anymore, and Tim won't be as coordinated with you. You're going to need help.” Canary said gently. 

Batman flinched at the name of his son. He stayed silent when he realized Canary was right. He and Tim weren't as coordinated as him and Richard. 

“Bring the team in,” Batman surrendered and turned back to the computer. 

Batman sighed as he called Superman, Green Arrow, and Flash.  _ I really hate asking for help.  _ The three picked up. 

**_“Batman?”_ ** Superman said. **_“I didn't expect it to be you.”_ **

**_“I have a mission for the team, but I need some league members to assist them in Gotham,”_ ** Batman replied. 

**_“Gotham? Why don't you and Robin handle it.”_ ** Flash asked. 

The Flash and some of the other leaguers were scared of Gotham. Batman's villains are crazy and homicidal, merciless. Those facts meant a strong respect for Batman and, reluctantly, Robin. Flash and some other leaguers still didn't trust the original Robin despite the number of times he saved them. Batman didn’t say anything about the names.  _ It’s Red Robin, but the Red part just isn’t sticking. _ It made him angry, Tim couldn’t replace Dick.

**_“Robin and I aren't as connected as… Just help with this mission. Don't make me ask again.”_ ** Batman said, his voice went from firm to exhausted. 

**_“Yeah, ok, when is the mission?”_ ** Green Arrow asked. 

**_“We go at eleven, under the cover of the night,”_ ** Batman responded. 

The three heroes supplied Batman with a nod or an okay and hung up as the team came in and lined up. Batman turned to them.

“So...Mission?” Kid Flash said.

Batman narrowed his eyes and glared at him. 

“Yes, it will involve some of the League, the team, and us.” Black Canary said.

“A team and League mission?” Aqualad said.

“Yes, Batman will fill you in,” Canary said and gestured to Batman.

“We’ll wait until the Leaguers get here. For now, train and be ready.” Batman ordered and glanced at the clock.

_ 9:58. About thirty minutes until the others get here.  _ Batman looked at the zeta tube as it announced Green Arrows and Flash’s arrival.  _ Or not, but Superman still isn’t here.  _ Flash zipped into the room and stopped in front of Batman, Green Arrow following behind him. 

“Supes not here?” Flash asked.

“No,” Batman replied and began pulling up the mission information. 

**_Superman 01_ **

“Supes!” Flash exclaimed as said hero strode into the room.

“Get the team,” Batman ordered to Canary.

“So, what’s this mission anyway?” Green Arrow questioned.

“I’ll brief you in a minute,” Batman answered.

The team came in and joined the Leaguers. As soon as they settled, Batman launched into an explanation.

“Recently I was supplied with information about a warehouse in Gotham. I was informed it may be used by the Court of Owls as a storage facility for various important resources. We are to infiltrate and take the warehouse and any worker inside. We deploy in ten minutes. Be ready. Any questions?” Batman said.

“Yeah, why aren’t we doing this?” Robin asked, annoyance evident.

Batman looked at him, saying nothing. Robin huffed and breathed a laugh. 

“Because you don’t think we’ll be able to,” Robin said. “You know, I thought we improved, but I guess not.” 

“This isn’t about us. This about our ability to work hand in hand with each other. No words, no indication of what the other is going to do. We aren’t at the same level…” Batman stopped mid-sentence, immediately regretting what he was about to say. 

“As you and the first Robin.” Robin finished.

Batman didn’t respond.

“That was what you were about to say, isn’t it?!” Robin accused.

“Do we have to do this right now?” Batman asked.

Robin shut his mouth and glared at his mentor.

“Then let’s go,” Batman growled.

* * *

 

The team, Batman, Black Canary, Superman, Flash, and Green Arrow were hiding in the trees, watching the warehouse. Talons were sprinting inside and flashes of red light illuminated the building. The red light flashes stopped and everything calmed. 

“Now,” Batman ordered and the heroes launched out of the trees and to the warehouse.

As they approached the doors, they swung open. Klarion, carrying a Talon who had bloody claw marks on the shoulders and sides, was strolling out into the crisp night air. The Talon’s mask was still in place, but the limp form suggested the small Talon was unconscious.

“Oh, well look at that! Heroes!” Klarion exclaimed.

“Drop the Talon,” Batman growled.

“Okay.” Klarion grinned and dropped Richard.

The Talon fell to the ground with a hollow thud and groaned a bit.

“Wake,” Klarion said and cast a spell on the Talon.

The Talon shot up and frantically looked around, his attention resting on Klarion. 

“Bastard!” He yelled and stood. “What the hell was that?!” 

“Turn around.” Klarion grinned.

The Talon, reluctantly, did as told and came face to face with the heroes.

“Great.” He said, tensing.

“Talon,” Batman growled, Richard’s mannerisms coming to his mind. 

“Batman.” The Talon hissed.

“I’ll make you a deal, you fight them and let me escape and I’ll come for you later.” Klarion grinned as a vortex swirled and roared behind him.

“What?! No. I’m not fighting your battles.” The Talon replied.

“It wasn’t really a deal, more of an order. After all, I’m still your higher up. We’ll play again sometime,” Klarion responded and disappeared through the vortex.

The Talon turned towards the heroes and got into a defensive stance.  _ Weakest link first. _

“Come on, Replacement.” The Talon taunted Robin.

Robin rushed forwards, fist raised. The Talon caught his fist and threw him over his shoulder into a thick tree. Kid Flash and Flash sped towards the Talon. The Talon jumped up and flipped over them causing them to run into each other. He stretched his legs out and kicked Aqualad in the face with both feet, effectively knocking him down and slowing him. Black Canary kicked out at the Talon; Talon ducked and punched her in the stomach. Batman tackled the Talon and knocked him on to the ground. Talon swung his legs up and kicked Batman hard in the center of the chest plate, then forced Batman off him. Talon stood and reached into his uniform and brought out a knife. He spun around and hit an arrow out of the air.  _ Artemis. Green Arrow.  _ Talon threw his knife at Artemis and cut her bowstring, then did the same to Green Arrow. Superboy came at him from his right, Superman came from his left, Kid Flash from behind him, and Aqualad from in front of him. 

“Not fair,” Talon said as he jumped up, only to be knocked to the ground by Robin and Miss Martian. 

Talon skid across the ground before standing and pulling out a gun. He aimed at Miss Martian and shot of four bullets. He turned the barrel to Kid Flash and shot at him. Miss Martian had stopped the bullets mid-air, but Kid Flash was tackled out of the way by Flash. A bullet tore through Flash’s lower leg, he cried out in pain. Superman’s eyes heated and Talons arm got hit by the lasers. He dropped the gun. 

“Again?!” Talon growled as he recalled the time Superman got him in the side.

Talon attacked Artemis with his fist but was kicked aside by Batman. Talon landed on his feet and glared at the heroes, mainly Batman.

“What are you doing here anyway?” He asked.

“I could ask you the same,” Batman growled.

“I’m here because I’m bored. Your turn.” The Talon replied.

“I want information and whatever’s in that warehouse,” Batman responded.

“Well, I don’t know what’s in there, and I’m not telling you anything.” The Talon replied.

“Why not? If someone’s keeping you here, we can help.” Black Canary cut in.

“I’m here for family. Besides, every single time I counted on you, you failed me. Your help is useless, and I don’t want it.” The Talon hissed.

“That’s a real shame,” Batman replied as he kicked out at the Talon.

The Talon jerked backward and turned his face to the left, but he wasn’t fast enough. Batman’s boot caught the edge of his mask and sent it flying through the air. It clattered on the ground. Talon’s raven, white-streaked hair was revealed, but it hid his face. His mouth and nose were exposed.

“Well, this happens too many times.” He said as he faced Batman.

Batman’s countenance went slack as he registered the face.

“No…” He whispered.

“Surprise, Brucie.” The Talon laughed.


	11. Chapter 11

“No…” He whispered.

“Surprise, Brucie.” The Talon laughed.

Time froze for the heroes, particularly Batman, as they slowly realized this boy was the first Robin. Their facial expressions displayed their utter shock. Batman observed the boys now emerald green and crystal blue eyes, his white-streaked hair, and pale-ish skin.  _ What have they done to you?  _ Batman wondered.

“You’re alive,” Batman said, shocked.

Richard laughed.

“You shouldn’t be so surprised, I was never proven dead.” He said.

“Ri-” Batman started.

“But then again, you never looked for me. You wasted no time replacing me. No time forgetting.” Richard hissed. 

He dissolved into hysteric, maniacal laughter, breaking his serious tone.

“I thought you cared. I really did.”

“Richard, I cared, I never stopped caring.  _ We  _ never stopped car-” Batman almost finished.

“You just left me to die, to rot!” Richard yelled angrily.

“Richard, I-I thought you were dead. I’m sorry.” Batman apologized.

“DON’T YOU DARE LIE TO ME! You never cared! All of that family talk, it was all lies! All of it! That’s all you heroes do! Lie! I was so stupid to believe you cared! Who are you going to betray next?! Tim Drake?! Alfred?! It certainly won’t be the citizens of Gotham! Gotham is the only thing you ever truly cared about! You can never choose someone else over Gotham!” Richard angrily yelled.

Batman gritted his teeth and looked down in shame, saying nothing.

“Richard, you have been misled! Batman has looked for you, has been looking for you! He was the only one who thought you could have been alive! Come back with us, and we will help you.” Black Canary tried.

“I DO NOT NEED HELP! I am with family! You’re just trying to manipulate me to be a pawn for the League again! I won’t let that happen! I see what the League really is!” Richard shouted.

“You’re family has made you commit crimes! They’ve told you lies, and you believed them. Let us show you the truth.” Black Canary persisted gently.

“No! We stop crime! You hit criminals and lock them up, but they always return and cause more damage! We hit criminals and they stay down! We’re doing what you never could!” Richard argued, his fist clenched.

“They’re criminals!” Robin yelled.

“Shut up, Replacement!” Richard turned his attention to Tim. “I feel pity for you. Batman must compare me to you, all the time. Let me guess, you two aren’t as coordinated as we were. Am I right?” He asked innocently, head tilted with a smile.

Tim didn’t respond, but he looked away and down, biting his lip.

“I am right.” Richard grinned and laughed.

“That’s enough, Renegade.” Artemis hissed.

“Renegade?” Richard growled.

“That’s what you’ve become. You’re the same as you were then, cruel, violent, and angry.” Artemis said.

“I am not Renegade, Traitor.” Richard hissed.

“And I am not a traitor.” Artemis hissed back.

“So, does that mean the team knows about your family?” Richard grinned evilly.

Artemis stiffened.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Richard said. 

He grinned and looked up at the sky. The team was looking at him like he was crazed and insane and lost. 

“Quit looking at me like that. My eyes have been opened; I'm not crazy.” Richard hissed.

“No one said you were-” Black Canary began. 

“They think I'm insane!” Richard yelled as he gestures to the team. “They don't know the feeling! They've never been so wronged that their whole life fell apart! That they were left all alone in this hell of reality!” He stressed.

Richard paced for a moment before calming. 

“I really would like talk and play some more, but I have places to be; people to see.” Richard turned his back to the heroes. 

Somehow Klarion knew they were done and formed a spiraling vortex behind the boy. 

“Richard, wait!” Batman exclaimed and reached for the boy. 

“Sorry, Bruce, but we’ll meet again. Don’t worry.” Richard smirked.

He disappeared into the vortex and the heroes were alone with his empty Talon mask. Batman walked over to it and picked it up.

“Oh, how I failed you.” He said softly, gazing at the mask with sorrow.

* * *

 

Richard stepped out of the vortex and into a lab-like room. It was a stark white, plain, and clean square room with one door and no windows. There was equipment lining the walls and a bed with restraints in the center of the room. Richard raised a brow. 

“What is this?” He asked.

“Project Ruler.” A voice said from behind him.

Richard calmly turned and faced William. Richard knew William was there, he just didn’t care to acknowledge him.

“And that is?” Richard urged William to expand on the subject.

“We plan on creating a being that will have to power to rule over the Earth like a god. A being who has the power of millions, a being more powerful than all the heroes combined. A being that strikes fear into the hearts of all. A being who is created for the sole purpose of ruling over the Earth.” William explained, fascination hanging on every word.

“Sounds intriguing, but how are you going to manage that?” Richard asked.

William laughed.

“Dear boy, we have a Lord of Chaos and many sorcerers. On top of that, we have many skilled scientists who specialize in certain fields.” William answered.

“So what, you’re going to just create it out of thin air? That’s impossible.” Richard responded.

William laughed again.

“Indeed it is. We need a sacrificial lamb for this project.” William said, an evil gleam in this eye.

Realization dawned over Richard. His eyes widened at what William planned.

“I see it has finally clicked.” Cobb grinned.

William made a grab for Richard. Richard jerked back, out of his grasp. Cobb raised his fist and quickly punched Richard in the chest, knocking the breath out of his grandson. Richard was knocked back into the bed, he braced himself on his arms. Cobb grabbed Richard’s arm from under the boy then yanked it around and behind him, bending him over the bed. Richard stilled as he felt pressure on his shoulder. A needle was inserted into his neck and liquid was pushed in.

“Go to sleep, Child. When you awake, we shall begin Project Ruler, and you will have made me proud.” William said in his ear.

“No…” Richard resisted and weakly struggled.

“Accept this, Richard,” William said.

Richard’s vision began to fade into black and, soon, he was unconscious.

* * *

 

The first thing Richard saw was a man leaning over him, bright lights behind him were casting strong shadows across the man’s face. Said man had on a surgical mask and all the things a surgeon would have on during surgery. Richard felt panic like ice water splashing over his mind. Surgical anything was never a good thing. There was a moving pressure on his right arm. Richard went to move his hand but couldn’t. Confused, he tried to look at his hands, but, again, couldn’t.  _ Restraints on the arms, legs, and head? I don’t feel anything. Have I been drugged to such an extent that I can’t move?! What the hell is this?!  _ The surgeon finally realized Richard was awake and leaned backward. 

“Ah, Richard. Don’t try to speak, we have injected you with various chemicals to temporarily paralyze you and your vocal cords.” That familiar voice said.

_ Cobb! That traitorous bastard!  _

“By the venom in your eyes, I’ll assume that you are not thinking something pleasant. You probably hate me right now, but you’ll soon learn and understand that this is a good thing. Everything wrong in the world will be fixed. Is that not what you want? I really hope you will forgive me.” William said in such an innocent voice. 

Richard wanted so desperately to believe him, but he knew what this really was.  _ You just want to rule the world! Don’t lie! Stop sounding so damned innocent! You have killed people! You will never be forgiven for this!  _ William sighed as he took off the surgical mask and other equipment.

“I’m sorry, Grandson, but I needed a sacrificial lamb. You were in such suffering, consumed by rage and pain, the perfect lamb. You were so eager to aid me that I simply couldn’t help but assign you to this project. Besides, wasn’t it you who said family does anything for each other? I recall you saying something along those lines.” William said smugly.

_ I never meant this! I was not suffering! _

William sighed once again and motioned to the door. The door opened in the corner of Richards' eye. Klarion and some other sorcerers stepped into the stark white room. They were looking at the floor and chanting softly. 

_ What's going on?! What are they saying?!  _

Richard felt the panic get stronger and slowly take over. It’s icy tendrils sinking deeper into him. He tried frantically to move any part of his body.

_ Come on! Move!  _

Richard tried to force his body to obey but nothing responded. Panic had set in and Richard started breathing heavily, quickly. Klarion stepped forwards, an evil grin and smug expression on his face. The Lord of Chaos brought a syringe with an eerie looking, black liquid in it. The strange black liquid glowed unnaturally.  _ The God’s Eye? Did they use it in whatever that is? _ Richard’s panic and desperation skyrocketed as he returned to fruitlessly trying to move.

_ Move, damn it! Come on! _

“Hey, Kiddo,” Klarion smirked. “No need to panic, it’ll all be over soon.”

Klarion punctured one of the veins in Richard's elbow and injected the black liquid into Richard’s system. Pain immediately flared as the black liquid coursed through Richard’s veins. His whole arm soon felt like it was on fire, the skin heating painfully. He tried to scream in pain but was trapped in silent suffering. He tried to writhe in pain, but was paralyzed and couldn’t. The pain spread with the strange liquid and soon his whole body felt like it was on fire. His veins had turned a ghastly black color and his skin paled. His crystal blue and emerald green eyes were being devoured and tainted black. He managed to gasp in pain as things changed within his body. The sorcerers had begun chanting and they grew in volume. Richard could do nothing but suffer silently, a strange squelching filling his ears.

“It’ll be over soon!” William yelled over the loud chanting.

Richard didn’t hear him. He knew nothing but pain and the feeling of things changing in his body. Finally, he could speak and a tortured scream ripped through the air. 

_ It hurts! Make it stop!  _

His screams increased as the chanting got louder. Richard felt his throat grow stressed from his harsh screams but didn’t care. After what seemed like an eternity, the chanting stopped, and with it, the burning pain. Richard panted on the bed as the pain drained from him getting replaced, he felt great. Powerful. Renewed. He began laughing. He sat up, his head dragging behind, his face turned towards the ceiling. He snapped his head down and grinned. The sorcerers looked frightened at the monster they created. Richard’s appearance had changed, again. He still had the white-streaked, raven hair, but his eyes were a solid, soulless black, he was paler, and black veins contrasted sharply with his skin. He laughed hollowly. The feeling of power racing through his body was addicting. He loved it, and he wanted more. 

“Richard?” William asked hesitantly.

Richard turned towards him slightly. A signal of acknowledgment.

“How are you feeling?” He said slowly.

“Absolutely wonderful, Cobb,” Richard answered.

“Are you okay?” William asked.

“Oh, yes. I feel absolutely reborn. Powerful. Really powerful. It’s addicting, this level of power. I want more, though. Tell me, how do I get more?” Richard replied.

“Strike fear into the population of Earth. Defeat the Justice League.” William encouraged, caught up in the high of success.

“No… that’s not enough. Why kill the League when I can make them my pawns? They can enforce my rule, and I can expand my new empire. I could have power over other planets. Why stop at Earth?” Richard said, his tone downright evil.

“You can’t do that. We need you to kill off the League, so we can rule over Earth.” William replied, anger in his tone.

With a flick of the wrist, William was pinned to the wall. Richard’s hand was raised, and his head turned unsettlingly to the side.

“You dare order me? I answer to no one. I will not let myself be a pawn to you weaklings. I will rule over the galaxy, the universe, I don’t need you. Actually, I could kill you right now and gain control over the Court of Owls, a very sophisticated organization.” Richard said angrily.

The sorcerers had stepped back in fear. The power-hungry monster before them was not what they had wanted. They had messed up and created something uncontrollable. They made an unfixable mistake. Richard laughed and tightened his open hand into a fist. Blood poured from Williams nose and eyes as his brain was crushed. His limp, bloody corpse fell to the ground. Richard got off the bed and floated in the air. 

“Bow.” He said with authority.

The frightened sorcerers, including Klarion, obeyed and bowed low in respect and fear. Richard laughed. The evil sound echoed throughout the room.

“As new Owl 1 of the Court of Owls, I issue the order to begin the creation of my empire.” Richard laughed and spread his arms.

“Let’s begin.” 


	12. Chapter 12

Batman was currently lurking in the dark shadows of a warehouse, listening in on the three criminals inside.

“Have you ever met this guy?” One of the men asked.

“No, but even Luthor is wary of him. If he wasn’t, we wouldn’t be here.” The second one replied.

“Yeah, Boss doesn’t like to share, but all his resources are helping this guy.” The third contributed.

“His name is Rege.” A voice said from the shadows. “You will do well to remember it.” 

The voice’s owner stepped into the revealing light. A talon. The talon prowled towards the three criminals and tilted his head creepily to the right, looking at them.

“Where’s the merchandise? We were given the impression it was here.” The talon growled.

“W-We had a b-bit of an issue...The Batman-” The first criminal began.

A knife sunk into the man's forehead and he fell backward. The Talon sighed, accented it with a low growl.

“Next time, it will be all of you. Rege wants the merchandise, and he was told it was ready. It will be ready next time or else he will personally come down here and slaughter you all.” The talon growled lowly. 

The mood suddenly changed as he tilted his head again.

“Until next time, gentlemen.” The talon said sweetly and turned.

Batman chose this moment to crash through the window and land in between the criminals and the talon. He had landed in a low crouch and rose up threateningly. The two lower criminals stepped back in fright. 

“Batman.” The talon greeted chillingly sweet.

Batman narrows his eyes. The two thugs began to run, but Batman quickly turned and threw a bolas at them. The criminals' feet were tied together, and they fell to the ground with a huff. Batman turned his glare back towards the talon.

“Who’s Rege? What does he want?” Batman questioned.

“My king and power.” The talon answered carelessly.

_ The Order is getting careless with who they let out. Normally, I’d be stonewalled...unless he means to kill me. _

“...Richard?” Batman asked hesitantly.

“Who?” The talon asked, real confusion lining the word.

Batman didn’t reply, but he lunged forward in an attempt to tackle the talon. The talon turned his torso to the left and let Batman rush past him. The talon stepped behind the Caped Crusader and dealt a powerful kick to the back of the Dark Knight’s head. Batman stumbled forwards before swinging his leg around and kicking the Talons chest. They both regained their balance and stances. Batman with his arms raised in front of his face, hands tightened into a fist. The Talon doing the same, but with his feet further apart. The talon jumped and stiffened for just a moment before relaxing and dropping his hands.

“Hello, Batman.” The talon said, but his voice was a little different.

The talon stood with confidence and with an air of authority.

“Rege, I assume,” Batman responded, relaxing out of his offensive stance but not letting his guard down.

“You know my name, I’m flattered. Usually, the bold, loud villains get your attention.” Rege responded.

“You’ve been causing a silent panic. All the other villains are scared and I assume you’re the one they’re scared of.” Batman said. 

Rege looked around before kicking his feet along the ground and pacing around the Dark Knight.

“I’ve given them a good reason to be frightened. Plus, fear is a great way to gain and keep control. You know that, otherwise you wouldn’t be the top dog of the Justice League.” Rege replied.

“I never threatened them. I never said anything threatening to them. They respect me, fear just happens to be in the mix.” Batman said. 

“And Robin? Speaking of which, where is the boy?” Rege asked as he stopped pacing around the man of bats.

“Robin is not feared. You don’t need to know where he is.” Batman answered.

“So the Manor with Alfred? Or the cave? Or with the team?” Rege replied.

Batman didn’t respond. Rege sighed, resumed pacing, then snapped his fingers.

“I’ve got it! He’s grounded.” Rege said looking at Batman.

The Dark Knight remained silent and expressionless.

“You’re no fun, Bruce.” Rege sneered childishly.

“What are you planning?” Batman interrogated.

“If I told you, it would ruin my fun,” Rege answered.

“Where are you?” Batman asked.

“That’s a stupid question. I’m here, of course.” Rege answered smugly.

“I meant your real body.” Batman clarified, knowing Rege was toying with him to annoy him.

“A place,” Rege responded before tilting his head as if listening to something.

“Sorry, Bats. I have some business to attend to. As I said last time, we’ll meet again. Don’t worry.” Rege said.

The talon’s body twisted in unnatural ways, bones being obliterated, organs being crushed. The talon screamed and begged for it to stop. Blood has spurted from his nose, ears, mouth, and eyes; some of it splattered on Batman’s face and torso. The talon let out a weak, choked sound before falling to the ground in a bloody, twisted heap of flesh. Batman stared, wide-eyed.  _ Rege is Richard. _ His mind wouldn’t accept that though.  _ Richard is human. Richard wouldn’t do that to a person.  _ Batman covered his mouth and looked away. Not much fazed him anymore, but the sight of the pile of deformed human and knowing who had done it shocked him, disgusted him. There was a coldness settling in his blood, making his clammy. He felt like throwing up. The shock was too much. Batman stumbled out of the warehouse and zeta-beamed to the mountain. The team was supposed to be out on a mission, and Bruce didn’t want the Leaguers or Alfred to see him like this, weak and vulnerable, shocked. 

**_Batman 02_ **

Batman stumbled into the mountain and slammed his back against the hard, rock walls. He heard light footsteps over his heavy breathing.

“Batman?” Black Canary’s voice said gently.

Batman slid down the wall, eyes wide, breathing heavily.

“Did something happen? Is Richard involved?” Black Canary continued as she stepped closer.

The woman could sense something was very wrong. Batman was never shocked, never panicked, never acted this way to anything. Seeing him now was shocking and wrong. Batman was the brains and brawn of the League. Black Canary knelt down next to him. She heard the others coming. She sighed, they were having an unscheduled team and League meeting after the disastrous mission the team had earlier that night.

“Richard wouldn’t. Couldn’t. He’s human. He’s good. He wouldn’t.” Batman began muttering through his shock.

The League and team were now standing in a circle around the two. There were murmurs and whispering. Something had shocked the emotionless Batman to the extent of denial.

“Maybe we should go to Gotham,” Superman suggested.

The other heroes were hesitant but agreed. The group stepped into the zeta-tube and looked around at the last receiving location, Gotham’s warehouse district. One of the warehouses had the door swung open, they went to it. They saw it. Some threw up, some stared in shock, some gasped and covered their mouths, others turned away as soon as they smelled the iron in the air. The team was rushed from the scene and back to the mountain. Leaguers followed Batman’s example and stumbled into the mountain.

“He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. He’s human.” Batman kept saying.

It clicked, then, what Batman was shocked about. Richard had been responsible. That was why Batman was reacting this way. His ‘dead’ son has become so monstrous, so cruel, so corrupted that he killed a man in such a painful, messy way. One thing filled everyone’s mind.  _ There’s no helping Richard. He’s not the good Robin we knew.  _

“Call Agent A. Batman needs to go home.” Black Canary said slowly, her shock affecting her too.

* * *

 

Richard laughed as he watched Batman and the other heroes do the same, stumble weakly.

“My Lord...May we continue...the meeting?” One of the Courts members said.

“Oh, yes, of course,” Richard responded, still giggling.

Richard was sitting at the head of the table with his feet on the table and was picking at his nails.

“Someone go.” He said uninterested.

A man with a lions mask stood.

“We may have found a way to intercept the League zeta-beams with an energy of our own creation, but so far, we have been having difficulty stabling the subjects and the energy. My scientist think they will have a solution in a few months.” The man said.

“I want it by next month,” Richard responded.

“We may not be able to make that, My Lord.” The man replied shakily.

“You will,” Richard answered, training his solid black eyes on the man. “If you value everything you love.” 

“Of course, My Lord, next month.” The man said quickly before sitting down.

“Did I say you could sit?” Richard asked the man, darkly.

The man shot to his feet. 

“No, My King. Forgive me.” He said, panicking.

“I forgive you.” The lion masked man sighed. “But I must punish you.” 

Richard smiled as he waved a hand in the man’s direction. The man cried out as his knees were thrown back. It looked as though his legs were backward and bent in a sick inversion. He collapsed, crying in pain. No one dared move to help him. Richard stood with his right-hand fingertips on the table. Authority filling the air around him.

“I will have control. You will not do anything unless I say so when in my presence. That means sitting, standing, eating, everything you chose to do. If not” He gestured to the fallen man. “I will punish you. Each punishment will be worse than the last. If you cross me, betray me, I will burn you, bring your whole life crashing down, and then I will kill everyone you love by forcing you to do it. Only then will I kill you painfully.” Richard growled. 

He smiled, innocently.

“Let’s continue, shall we?”

* * *

 

Catwoman sprinted out to the Court of Owls meeting. She was dressed in a long black dress, a panther mask over her face. Her hair was in a braid.  _ What happened to him? He’s completely different. Cruel. And his appearance. He doesn’t even have pupils! He’s become...something else.  _ The woman of cats was heading for the Wayne Manor. She knocked on the wooden doors harshly.

“Bruce! Alfred!” She yelled.

The door opened. Alfred looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

“Something has happened to Richard.” She said hurriedly.

“We know,” Alfred said grimly.

He stepped aside so Selina could come in. She saw Bruce on the couch, his head in his hands. He looked rough.  _ Well, after what I saw, Bruce has probably seen something similar. It’s understandable to be a little rough right now.  _ She walked up to Bruce and sat beside him. She placed a hand on his back.

“We both know something happened to him. That was not the Richard we know and love.” She said softly.

Bruce looked up at her, his face had hardened, emotions switched off.

“Yes, it is. The Court of Owls may have done something, but Richard is gone. He’s this Rege now.” Bruce huffed a laugh. “Ironic really. Rege means king in Romani. Even his name screams what he has become.” 

“Well, I believe Richard can still be helped. He’s still there, and we will save him. That’s what you heroes do, isn’t it? Save people?” Selina said, desperation spurred anger starting to spark.

“He’s just another villain. I’m sorry, Selina, but he’s gone. Besides, he said it himself, he doesn’t need our help, doesn’t want it, and all the times we did help, we were never effective, never there on time. It’s impossible to save someone who doesn’t want to be saved. The Richard we knew is gone. ” Bruce responded.

“You’re Batman! Nothing is impossible. You always find a way to save the people who need saving. If you care, you’ll give it all you’ve got. If you don’t, you give up. Prove to Richard you care.” Selina replied.

“He doesn’t want to be saved!” Bruce countered.

“When do people ever mean that?! That’s always a lie! Richard needs you now more than ever! I shouldn’t need to even be yelling at you about this! You should be the Bruce Wayne I know and be out there dressed as a bat looking for your son!” She finished.

“He’s not my son,” Bruce said quietly.

Selina looked at him with a mix of disbelief and confusion.

“W...What do you mean? Of course, he is.” She said.

“No, it isn’t. The thing Richard is now is not my son. My son died the moment he fell back into the shadows. The moment his anger drove him. The moment the Court corrupted him.” Bruce responded.

Tim Drake had been listening to the whole thing through the doorway. That whole part has stunned him. As much as he hated to admit it, Bruce needed Richard. Alfred had been in the room, allowing the two to fight. He was saddened by Bruce’s words. Alfred viewed Richard and Tim as his grandsons. He loved them both, wanted the best for them, wanted to protect them. Bruce wanted the same. But both of them had failed Richard so miserably that he wasn’t considered family to the head of the house. 

“Master Bruce,” Alfred forced. 

Bruce looked at his butler and friend. Alfred stepped towards him, face tense. He raised his hand and slapped Bruce across the face.

“Master Richard deserves our help. We’ve failed him too many times to not try. You and Master Tim are going to help him. He’s lost and angry. Don’t tell me he doesn’t want to be saved. That doesn’t matter. Just because someone stumbles and loses their path, doesn’t mean they can’t be saved.” He said. 

The house had gone deathly quiet after the slap. Alfred’s soft voice was heard by everyone like a roar. Tim peaked around the doorway. Bruce looked at Alfred before looking down. Bruce walked toward the grandfather clock.

“Come on, Tim. We have work to do.”


	13. Chapter 13

The League watched as Batman slaved over finding Rege. It had been about a week since the incident in the warehouse. Batman and Robin had been working nonstop to get any information on this new player. The only thing they knew so far was the Rege was Richard, but even that was doubted. No one understood how such a change could happen. So the League and Team watched as Batman worked at the holo-computer and Robin look through files and video feeds around Gotham. Batman sighed. There had been no sightings of Rege. None. No one has seen him in person except for a few Talons and Light members. Batman turned to Superman.

“Where’s Lex Luthor?” He asked.

Superman looked at Batman. He was hesitant to give the tired, frustrated bat that information.

“Where is he?” Batman growled, getting annoyed.

“Lexcorp.” Superman replied.

Batman turned towards the zeta tubes, Robin began following.

“Go back to the cave and continue there. I’ll be there shortly.” Batman commanded.

Robin huffed but did as told. He knew by now that Batman had taken this whole situation as a personal failure. A failure that only Batman could fix.

Robin watched as Batman went through the zeta tube and to Metropolis.

* * *

 

Batman stepped out of the zeta tube and began making his way to the tall Lexcorp building. He was on the roof of the building across the street from Lexcorp.  _ Luthors office is on the very top. I’ll have to grapple all the way up.  _ Batman shot his grapple and zipped up to the top window. Not caring about property damage, he kicked the window in and landed behind Luthor in a shower of glass. The bald genius jumped and turned his head.

“Why is it alway the window with you people? I have a perfectly fine door.” Lex Luthor said as he gestured to his office door.

“What do you know about Rege? I know you’re apart of the Light and one of their more valuable members. You know something.” Batman said, getting straight to the point.

“Rege is… something else. A whole new category of villain. I’ll tell you that, nothing else.” Lex Luthor answered with an air of ‘I-know-something-you-don’t’.

Batman grabbed Luthor by the collar.

“What else?” He growled.

“I can’t tell you anything. That’s all I know.” Luthor responded, losing the air of ‘I-know-something-you-don’t’.

“Where is he?” Batman questioned roughly.

“I don’t know!” Luthor responded quickly.

“How do you contact him?” Batman asked roughly.

“He contacts me.” Luthor said, putting an emphasis on he.

Batman shoved Luthor back.

“This better be true, if is isn’t, I will come after you.” Batman snarled.

The Caped Crusader went over to the broken window and jumped. He fell about three stories before firing his grapple. He swung towards the zeta tube he arrived in. Once he got there, he set the coordinates to the Batcave and stepped through. Batman was disappointed with the results, and he admitted that Rege was very good. The thought saddened him, though, and he refused to refer to Rege as Richard. To be able to help Rege, Batman couldn’t think of his as his son, Richard, Batman now had to think of him as a new villain. A villain with phenomenal power over others; a villain with two sophisticated organization under his control; a villain who is more ruthless and cruel than any other villain they faced. To help, Batman had to think Richard was dead.

* * *

 

Rege knew the League, mainly Batman, and the team were going to start snooping around for information on him. Rege also knew they would go to the Light members. He knew before the knew. That was why he made sure to cover his tracks and cover them well. He made sure none of the Light had seen him, made sure none of the Owls or Talons would talk, made sure the benefactors of the Court were kept secret, made sure no one other than a select few could contact him, and, finally, made sure that all those who were possible cracks in his defense were killed. Rege was pretty confident in his defense. He was confident that no one would talk. He had made his punishment very clear and made them all scared. After all, fear enforces power. So when he had the suspicion that Batman would go to Lex Luthor for information, Rege scared the hell out of Luthor. He threatened Lexcorp, Lexcorps money, Luthor's kryptonite supply, and, finally, Luthor’s life. It was very effective on the greedy genius. Despite the enforcements to his secrecy, Rege contacted Luthor.

“My Lord?” Luthor said.

“Did you tell the Bat anything?” Rege asked.

“Just that you were a new type of villain and that you contact me, never the other way around.” Luthor responded quickly.

Everyone knew to answer Rege truthfully and wholly. Chances were, Rege already knew the answer to the question he asked, lying to Rege was dangerous.

“Good. I also called to check in on the progress of that certain project.” Rege said.

There was a rule to never speak of anything related to Rege by name. 

“It is coming along. We have had some complications getting the...key object to work with the system.” Luthor reported.

_ So the kryptonite isn’t cooperating with the weapons system. This sets a small blip in the time frame, but we are in no hurry. I’ll move the deadline from this Tuesday to this Saturday. _

“That’s fine, but try to make to deadline plus four days.” Rege responded, hoping Luthor could do simple math.

“We will put all of our efforts into fixing the problem.” Luthor said, understanding the deadline change.

“Good.” Rege answered and cut contact.

Rege sat in his grandfathers old office with his feet on the desk and looking relaxed. He stared at his black veined hand.  _ Interesting look.  _ He hadn’t gotten used to the new power and appearance just yet.

“Slade!” Rege called.

A second later the mercenary stepped into his office and knelt in front of the desk.  _ Oh how the table have turned. We used to be switched.  _ Rege smirked, but was a bit annoyed.

“I’ve told you already, you don’t have to kneel to me. You are my second in command, not my one of my dogs.” Rege said seriously.

“That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t show my respect.” Deathstroke said as he stood.

“You show me respect by following my orders and keeping the others in line.” Rege countered.

“Then think of it as an apology for all of the things I did to you when you were younger.” Deathstroke responded.

“I’ve forgiven you for that. I now understand why you did what you did.” Rege replied.

The two were close now. Deathstroke kept Rege from doing anything too major and kept people in line. Rege was, well, Rege. He was the brains and brawn behind the scenes, the manipulating master mind. 

“I assume you summoned me here for a reason.” Deathstroke said.

“Ah yes, I want you to go to Lexcorp and make sure Luthors people are working on the kryptonite weapon.” Rege ordered.

“Of course.” Deathstroke nodded, but stayed in the room.

“That is all, you are dismissed.” Rege said and made a shooing motion.

* * *

 

To say Deathstroke was surprised when he first saw Richard as Rege is an understatement. Slade was completely shocked when he saw what they had created. He felt dread as Rege began to take over the Light and Court of Owls with fear. Deathstroke had even thought of going to the League and tell them everything that had happened to poor Richard. He still pondered it now. He knew he wouldn’t though. Rege was still Richard to him and Richard cannot be betrayed like that or pushed over the edge of sanity. Deathstroke felt responsible for Rege and requested that he be his second in command. Rege agreed, surprisingly. Deathstroke knew that being in such a position meant he had to do a lot of enforcing power and knowing things few people know. He thought about this as he made his way to Lexcorp.  _ If I hadn’t gotten Richard, would he be okay? Would he still be innocent? He would be hurt, but would he have ended up like this?  _ Deathstroke knew the answer to that question and hated himself for all of this.  _ How could I have been so cruel?  _ Deathstroke’s humanity was catching up to him. He stepped through the glass doors of Lexcorp and headed for the sublevels through the stairwell. He went out of the stairs at sublevel seven. 

“Mercy.” He called to the robot woman. “What’s the status?” He asked as he walked towards her.

“The kryptonite is not syncing with the weapons system. The scientist have not yet found the reason why to fix the issue.” She said in a monotone voice.

“Rege wants this by when?” Deathstroke asked.

“Saturday.” Mercy replied.

Deathstroke sighed.  _ Great. At Lexcorp for almost a week.  _ Deathstroke sighed once more before finding a spot where he could see all of the room. He stood there for days, only taking breaks to go to the bathroom and eat. He could go a week without sleep, but since Lexcorp was closed from two AM to five AM, he got three hours a day. This went on for four days, before something went terribly wrong. Superman, Superboy, and Wonder Woman burst through the ceiling. Deathstroke heaved a sigh and contacted Rege with Code 01. Rege would arrive soon. Deathstroke unsheathed his sword and jumped at the superman clone. 

Superman, Wonder Woman, and Superboy had been fighting Deathstroke when Rege entered the scene through one of Klarions vortexes. He flew up towards the ceiling, then he stopped to watch before grinning. Rege’s hand glowed black and he waved it out towards Wonder Woman then swung his hand towards the floor. The Amazon fell from the air and slammed into the ground. Rege’s outstretched hand brought the Amazon up and into the wall. She cried out. Rege grinned as Superboy turned to him and looked at him in shock.

“Hi, Connor. Long time no see.” Rege snarked before turning his power to Superboy.

Superboy floated in the air before being hurled towards Superman. The two were sent into the wall by Rege. Rege laughed as he floated down to the floor, landing in front of the unfinished kryptonite weapons. The Supers and Wonder Woman stood and gritted their teeth. Deathstroke took a defensive stance beside Rege who was standing with his hand behind his back.

“I would ask what you’re doing here, but I already know you’re trying to demolish my weapons. So, instead I’ll ask, how did you know?” Rege said.

“We have the greatest detective on our side. It was only a matter of time.” Wonder Woman responded.

“So, Luthor was stupid enough to put this whole operation on his computer.” Rege said.

The three heroes didn’t respond. 

“Well, I guess Luthor will have to lose something now.” Rege sighed.

“Richard, this isn’t you!” Superman said, wanting the old, nice Richard to come home.

“Oh, yes it is.” Richard responded.

Superman looked at Richard. The boy’s eyes were solid black, his skin pale, veins black, his hair black, but had one white streak. He refused to believe this was Richard. Superman knew Wonder Woman and Superboy felt the same.

“No. It’s not! You aren’t evil! You were never power hungry!” Superman tried.

“The old me was weak, pathetic, and powerless. The me I am now is powerful, strong, and everyone follows my orders. I now have everything I need. I just need all of you useless heroes gone.” Rege responded.

The heroes didn’t respond, but finally accepted that Richard was gone. They just gave a battle cry before doing what they do best, and mindlessly charging into battle.

“Not a good idea.” Rege smirked.

Rege brought his glowing back hands around and thrust them into the ground. The floor immediately cracked and sharp, jagged pieces of flooring rose up and fell away. The heroes were stumbling and struggling to not fall. Rege smirked and nodded to Deathstroke. The armored man brought out his gun and began shooting at the heroes before they could escape. They knew the bullets had no effect on Superman or Superboy, but they didn’t know if they did on Wonder Woman’s skin. Sadly, they had no chance to find out. Wonder Woman flew up before Deathstroke could get a hit. Superman soon followed, carrying Superboy. They hovered in air. Rege growled out stretched his hands to the broken floor. Pieces glowed black before floating. Rege raised them up before launching them at the heroes, moving his hands about. The heroes narrowly dodges the sharp floor pieces. They were driven out of Lexcorp. 

* * *

 

When the heroes got to the mountain base, they looked defeated as they walked into the mission room to report. 

“How’d it go?” Batman asked.

“We… were defeated...by Rege.” Superman said.

“Rege himself?” Batman asked.

Superman, Wonder Woman, and Superboy nodded.

“What did he look like? How did he act?” Black Canary questioned.

The three told them everything. How the fight happened, what Rege looked like, everything. Batman was affected the most. The situation was much worse than he thought. 


	14. Chapter 14

Batman was back at digging for information of Rege, the Light, the Court of Owls, and all of Rege’s known associates. Robin was with the team, so Batman didn’t need to worry about what Robin was doing. Alfred was growing increasingly worried about the new obsession over Rege. It was understandable, but Alfred still wished Bruce would take a break now and then, but the Batman had his sights on a new villain. When that happened, Batman could not be shaken and will not stop until he completes his mission. Batman even requested that Commissioner Gordon and the Gotham Police Department be on the lookout for any mention of Rege, the Light, the Court of Owls, and Deathstroke. The Justice League had joined this search voluntarily. Nearly all the Leaguers felt guilty for Richard’s fate and were trying to help in any way possible. The magic users using all resources to try to figure out how this happened and how to fix Rege’s mind. The wide web of connections using all resources to try to find Rege. The mind readers doing what they can to get a feel of the set up of Rege’s organization and chain of command. So far, none of them had gotten much progress in their tasks. It was frustrating. They had worked so hard only to find nothing.

* * *

 

While the heroes were doing their research, Rege was preparing for the coming war. He had Lex Luthor step down and Rege took control of Lexcorp. Luthor was just the face of the company now. Rege had Lexcorp begin various projects. Some involving kryptonite, other involving regular weapons. The Court of Owls had the task of gaining information of all capitals and important people in the world. The Light and Rege were planning their strategy to take over, strengthening not only their offense but also their defense. There was one thing Rege couldn’t predict, Batman. The man was known to be unpredictable and ruin the plans of power-hungry villains. 

“I want to know every possible outcome involving the Bat,” Rege ordered his dogs. 

“Are you sure you aren’t focusing on the Batman too much?” Deathstroke asked calmly.

“Yes. We’ve both seen how Bruce is. He plans for everything. It’s only reasonable to do the same for Batman and the Justice League. We can’t have them ruining any part of my plan.” Rege responded.

“I agree that this whole thing is brilliant and that I would have never thought of half the things you have, but, because of this fact, I don’t think we need to plan this much,” Deathstroke said.

“I’m glad that you agree and express your opinion, but I disagree. I will not have any of the false gods destroy my chances of world domination.” Rege said grimly.

Deathstroke stayed silent. 

“I’ll take your silence as a silent ‘I-was-wrong’,” Rege said with a smirk.

“You know me so well.” Deathstroke snorted.

Rege hummed.

“Anyway, I think we should send some dogs out to distract the heroes while the action point completes the final stages. What do you think?” Rege asked his second in command.

“I agree. Where should they be sent to?” Deathstroke asked.

“Mount Justice.” Rege grinned.

* * *

 

The team had the day off. Wally, Artemis, and Connor were watching TV; Robin was working on his holo-computer. Kladur was reading in the chair; Megan was busy in the kitchen, making cookies. All in all, it was a peaceful day. Wally and Artemis only fought about two times and Megan and Connor had their awkward exchanges quickly. However, Robin couldn’t get his mind of off Rege. Tim may have disliked Richard for Bruce’s actions to find him, but he knew when to set aside emotions and help someone. This someone just happened to be a person very close to the League and team. This person was also very lost and hurt. Tim wouldn’t allow himself to ignore a person in need. He also felt bad about not believing Bruce. 

“Robin. Roooobiiiin. Hey, dude, where’d you go?” Wally said, interrupting Robin’s train of thought. 

“What?” Robin snapped.

“Woah, dude, I don’t mean to be rude, but you look troubled,” Wally said, holding his hands up as a sign of surrender. 

Robin dragged his hands over his face, under his sunglasses. He felt hot to his own hands.  _ Maybe I’m coming down with something.  _

“Sorry, I’m just really tired,” Robin said.

“You look a little pale. Are you sure you are just tired?” Megan asked as she set down cookies.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me,” Robin said, making a dismissive gesture.

“Well, alright then,” Artemis said.   
Robin could tell they didn’t believe him but was distracted by a loud explosion coming from the top of the mountain. Large pieces of rock began to cascade around them. Robin shot to his feet and tackled Kaldur to the ground, saving him from being crushed by a rock. 

“What was that?!” Artemis yelled.

“I do not know, but I think the mountain is under attack,” Kaldur said.

“Well we aren’t suited up, so let’s go ge-” Connor began but was cut off by Bane punching him across the room.

“You know, this really is a clever place to hide, chicos.” Bane said and grinned.

“Kudos to Batman.” Killer Frost said.

Bane, Killer Frost, and Amazo stood before the team. There was a moment of tense silence before Robin lunged at Bane with an angry yell. Bane laughed and blocked Robins kick.

“Get your equipment! Miss Martian, Superboy, and I will hold him off!” Robin yelled at the team.

Robin charged towards Bane but was punched out of the air by Amazo. Miss Martian began to take on Killer Frost. Superboy jumped onto Amazo. Kid Flash quickly changed and zipped back into the fight in less than a minute. Artemis sprinted out of the room, Kaldur following. Robin stood in front of Bane in a ready stance. Bane laughed as he took in Robin’s casual attire.

“Hiding in plain sight. Batman really is clever,” Bane said.

“Why do you say Batman is the orchestrator of this whole operation?” Robin asked.

“Oh, we have some inside information.” Bane grinned.

_ A mole? No, Rege.  _ Robin’s eyes narrowed.

“Are you referring to a mole?” Robin asked.

“No,” Bane answered.

“Would you tell me if there was?” Robin asked.

“No,” Bane smirked.

Robin growled low before lunging forwards while Aqualad charged Bane from behind. Robin jumped up, fist raised. Aqualad stayed low, his water swords turning into maces. Robin’s fist crashed into Bane’s jaw while Aqualad’s water maces slammed into Bane’s knees. The man fell. Robin took this opportunity to tie up Bane and kicked him the back of the head. Bane’s head slammed into the floor and was knocked unconscious. Miss Martian and Artemis were currently fighting Killer Frost, weaving through the ice. Miss Martian finally got fed up with the useless dodging and used her telekinesis to hit Killer Frost with a piece of fallen rock. The two young women looked at each other triumphantly. Miss Martian, Artemis, Robin, and Aqualad’s attention was quickly drawn to Kid Flash and Superboy being thrown across the room by the Amazo android.

“We’ll take him down like last time,” Aqualad ordered the team.

The team nodded in agreement and ran forwards. Robin jumped up and went to kick Amazo in the chest. 

**_Accessing Superman_ ** Amazo monotoned.

Amazos eyes glowed red before shooting Robin out of the air. Robin cried out as the two heated lasers went straight through his forearm, which he brought up to block the hit. Superboy caught Robin before the bird crashed into the ground. 

“You alright?” Superboy asked as he set Robin down.

“Fine,” Robin responded angrily.

Superboy ignored Robin’s anger and jumped at Amazo. Artemis was doing what she did best and shooting arrows at the android. Miss Martian was hurling jagged rock fragments at Amazo. Kid Flash running in circles around the android and landing the occasional hit. Aqualad kept charging Amazo in the hopes of getting an opening to leave one of his weapons inside the android. The moment Superboy began his charge, Amazo accessed Martian Manhunter’s powers. Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Superboy let their raised fists and weapons to stop inside Amazo. When Amazo became solid, he exploded. 

“That was much easier than last time,” Superboy said.

“Not for me! I’ve never even fought Amazo!” Robin yelled, cradling his injured arm.

“Oh yeah...Sorry. I guess we should have filled you in.” Miss Martian said apologetically.

Robin sighed.

“It’s fine. I’m going to go clean this up and wrap my arm.” Robin said as he turned to go to the medical wing.

“I’ll contact Batman,” Aqualad said and walked towards the communication room.

**_“Aqualad to Watchtower,”_ ** Aqualad said into the com system.

**_“Watchtower,”_ ** Superman responded.

Superman and Green Lantern were on watchtower duty but weren’t expecting a call from the mountain base.

**_“We’ve had a break in. Three villains, Bane, Killer Frost, and Amazo, broke in and are currently unconscious. Well, Amazo has been exploded.”_ ** Aqualad answered.

**_“Green Lantern and I will come down after we contact the rest of the League,”_ ** Superman responded.

Superman quickly informed the League and joined Green Lantern at the zeta tubes. The two Leaguers stepped in and materialized in Mount Justice. They were met with the sight of Bane tied up and unconscious, Killer Frost unconscious on the floor, and Amazo bits everywhere with a charred spot on the floor. Superman and Green Lantern then noticed the hole in the top of the mountain and sighed. They had fixed this place up only for it to be destroyed once more. Patching the mountain up was a difficult task. 

“Tell us what happened,” Superman said.

“Actually, let’s wait until the rest of the League gets here.” Green Lantern cut in before any of the team could answer Superman.

They didn’t have to wait long. In a maximum of fifteen minutes, all of the League was there. Batman was the one to take charge, of course.

“Tell us what happened. Everything.” Batman growled as he checked Robin’s arm, now in his uniform. 

So one by one, the team told their versions of what happened to the League. Batman seemed to get more pissed off when the part of Robin getting hurt came up. The League blamed the whole Richard situation for Batman’s fierce protectiveness over the new Robin, Tim. It was understandable for Batman to now be extremely protective of his family. His family included the League, Alfred, Robin, the team, and Catwoman. He also seems to actually care about the wellbeing of Gotham villains, given that his first son is now one of them. The League blamed Richard for that too. Richard was the caring one, but now he was gone, so Bruce had taken that role, to their surprise.

“How did they know about the mountain base anyway?” Flash asked.

“Rich-Rege,” Batman answered, quickly fixing his mistake.

“I thought he wouldn’t tell, wouldn’t betray us that way.” Black Canary said. 

“Well, we were wrong. Wrong about everything. Rege isn’t Richard. Rege has all this knowledge, and he will utilize it. We must be prepared for any low blows he may deal. He’s planning wide-scale domination. We plan for war.” Batman growled, but it wasn’t the normal angry growl, it sounded saddened.

“So what? We are the only resistance? We’ll have no chance that way.” Green Arrow said.

“If that is what it takes, yes. If we fall, we fall, but we will resist Rege. We may not win, but we will fight. Rege is probably planning an unbalanced fight, but we will prepare for this.” Batman paused and reluctantly said, “This...This is war.”


	15. Chapter 15

The Angels and Demons were preparing for war. Rege had ordered all projects to be done before their deadlines. He made sure all testing was sped up and the weapons were ready to be used whenever needed. Rege made sure all Talons and Owls were training more; the Light had all resources available to Reges command. Everything for the coming war was ready. Rege was looking forward to demolishing the League.

The League, however, was having a hard time preparing for the war. They had no idea what the new enemy was planning, so they had a hard time gathering weapons and planning out strategies. Batman, of course, was being extremely cautious. He gathered Wayne Industries weapons and technology, anything he thought would help. The other heroes and the younger ones were having trouble doing much of anything. They had no idea what to prepare for, what Rege was planning, nothing. 

Meanwhile, Rege had sent Deathstroke out to make sure nothing would fall through with any of Reges associates. Rege had trusted Deathstroke with all of the war plans and told the mercenary everything. 

Little did he know, Slade was a demon on the side of angels. He had been letting puzzle pieces fall here and there, hoping the League would pick up on them and see what Rege had planned. Luckily, Batman did. The Dark Knight had a very vague idea of what his broken son had planned. Batman also knew Deathstroke was the one to give him the pieces. He also knew Deathstroke was sticking his neck out. Rege would kill him painfully if he found out what Deathstroke was up to. 

However, Batman wasn’t particularly worried about that; he was worried about the last message Deathstroke sent.  _ 0415\. What could that be? A time in military time? A date, maybe? A possible area code? Code of some kind? A password?  _ Batman sighed and rubbed his head.  _ I feel a headache coming on.  _

“0415? What’s that got to do with Rege?” Flash asked from behind him.

“I don’t know, yet.” Batman growled in frustration.

“Okay, okay. Didn’t mean to step on your toes.” Flash said apologetically. 

“0415? April 15th?” Superman said from the doorway. 

Flash looked at him questioningly. Batman remained at the computer. 

“I heard your conversation.” Superman said.

“Oh, yeah. I forgot about the super hearing.” Flash laughed, embarrassed.

Superman looked over the information on the screen.

“What’s all this?” Superman questioned.

“Deathstroke has been leaving pieces of Rege’s puzzle for the past few weeks. This”, he gestured to the screen, “is all that he has given me.” Batman answered.

“Deathstroke?! Few weeks?!” Flash exclaimed, “You didn’t think this is something the rest of us would like to know?!” 

“I wasn’t going to share until I figured out what this all meant.” Batman growled.

While Flash and Batman were bickering, Superman had mentally contacted Martian Manhunter and requested the Martian to contact all available heroes. He figured now was the time to share. Within minutes, most of the League and the whole team had joined them in the mission room at the mountain base.

“Well, what do you have so far?” Superman asked.

Batman sighed.

“0415. Mentions of a tower. Hints at kryptonite. Something about a black liquid.” Batman said.

“What do you think of it?” Green Arrow asked the dark genius.

“0415, April 15th, a time, password, code; I’m not sure. The tower, Lexcorp or the Watchtower. Kryptonite can be weaponized. The black liquid, I have no idea. Maybe magic or chemicals.” Batman said, waving his hand around at the last sentence.

“Rege wouldn’t attack the Watchtower. Lex Luthor is a member of the Light. I think that part is Lexcorp.” Green Lantern said from the ring of heroes around Batman.

“That could explain the kryptonite. Lex Luthor is obsessed with kryptonite and Superman.” Flash agreed.

“I think 0415 is a password. Maybe Rege plans on using a computer system in some way.” Green Arrow said.

“The black liquid isn’t like anything in any of my books. Doctor Fate may know something, but I’m sorry to say I do not.” Zatanna said.

Batman sighed.

“Could it be a chemical?” He asked. “Something made in a lab?”

“Nothing I’ve ever seen or heard off.” Flash answered.

“Me neither.” Captain Atom commented.

“It is nothing I have ever heard of.” Wonder Woman said.

“So it isn’t of Amazon creation, not a chemical, or any known magic.” Batman summed up.

The heroes looked at each other guiltily.

“I’ll continue looking and see if I can come up with anything. Robin, I want you to go to Gotham and ask Gordon if he knows anything about Rege and black liquid.” Batman ordered. 

Robin nodded before making his way towards the zeta tube. 

“I’ll be there shortly.” Batman called after him.

“So, I’ll see you in a few hours.” Robin called back and dematerialized into golden light.

“Yes.” Batman said absently, returning to work.

* * *

 

Rege sat at his desk, his feet up on the smooth surface, hands folded in front of his face, covering his mouth. He swiveled in his chair softly. Rege was getting suspicious of Deathstroke. The man was becoming distant and and closed off. Rege sighed and called Deathstroke in. The man came in and went to his knee.

“You called, Rege.” Deathstroke said respectfully.

“Yes. Stand. I’ve told you thousands of times, you don’t have to kneel before me.” Rege sighed.

Deathstroke stood and locked his hands behind his back.

“Is there something going on that I should know about?” Rege asked, getting straight to the point.

“No. Why do you ask?” Deathstroke answered.

“You’ve been a bit off lately, distant.” Rege replied and stopped his swiveling.

“I’ve been attending to your associates, making sure nothing falls through, doing what you asked.” Deathstroke answered.

“I know, but we haven’t talked or anything lately.” Rege complained.

“Do you want me to be here or out there?” Deathstroke asked drly.

Rege sighed and focused his black eyes on the mercenary.

“Split your time.” Rege ordered.

Deathstroke hesitated before nodding. Rege’s suspicion had not been subdued.

“We’re starting our plan in a few hours. Date of action has been moved up. It’s no longer the 15th.” Rege informed.

Deathstroke stiffened ever so slightly. It was barely noticeable. Rege narrowed his eyes before closing them and sighing. The feeling of dread and regret filling in. His face tightened.

“Are you having doubts about this?” Rege questioned angrily.

“No. I’m just worried about how this will affect you.” Deathstroke replied.

“If that is a lie, I will kill you. No matter how much I won’t want to, I will do it, make no mistake about that.” Rege said dangerously.

Deathstroke swallowed and nodded.

“I assure you, nothing is wrong other than that.” Deathstroke lied.

“Good.” Rege said. “Three hours. That’s how much time we have left before Attack 1. Be ready.” 

Deathstroke nodded. 

“Dismissed.” Rege said, resuming his swiveling.

Deathstroke left and closed the door behind him before cursing quietly. The sudden movement, Rege’s suspicion, he couldn’t get any more messages to the League.

* * *

 

Rege stood in front of his army, thousands of talons and a couple owls, Lexcorp robots, villains, and other associate provided dogs. His face on screens in bases all over the world. 

“Gentlemen, ladies, and other beings in the room, I am here to give you an opportunity to wreak havoc across the world! A world ruled by myself, with you at my side. Take your revenge on those who have hunted and jailed you! Together we shall plunge this dirty world into fire and bring back out of the ashes, bathed in gold.” Rege said to rile his army. 

He grinned as the large room was filled with shouts of agreement. 

“Attack and Storm 1 shall begin!” He yelled.

At the end of the sentence, his army rushed out of the room with shouts and yells. The streets were filled with violence and crime. The League was called and they began fighting and arresting the criminals loose in their cities. Rege grinned as he floated above Gotham, his body outlined in a black glow. Beside him, in the same glow, was Deathstroke with a bag on his back. Rege huffed a laugh before turning to Deathstroke. 

“Let's begin.” He said as he elevated him and Deathstroke. 

They rose in height until they came to the bottom of the watchtower. Deathstroke got the bag off his back and opened it. Rege raised his hand to the bag and lifted out many small explosives. They glowed black at they set themselves on the rock surrounding the building and on various parts of the exposed concrete. Rege grinned as many red lights came on. He could see Martian Manhunter and Green Lantern going from com to com frantically, other heroes who didn’t have a designated city were running around, assisting wherever they could. Rege’s smirk widened before he began his and Deathstroke’s descent. 

“Two minutes and forty-nine seconds and counting.” Deathstroke informed. 

“That’s all the time we need.” Rege smirked.

“Where will it fall?” Deathstroke asked.

“As long as it falls, the crash site won’t matter. The world will be angry with the Justice League for keeping a weaponized orbiting base a secret.” Rege said.

Deathstroke looked at Rege worryingly. He accepted that Richard was probably gone for good, but he couldn’t help but wish the boy would come back and stop all of this.

“Stop looking at me like that.” Rege ordered as they touched the streets of Gotham. “How much time?” 

“One minute, fifty seconds and counting.” Deathstroke answered.

“Let’s have some fun in the meantime.” Rege said with a smirk. “How about we attract the Bat?”

Rege turned and outstretched his hands. Various objects glowed black, cars, fire hydrants, light poles, newsstands, vendor carts, and some things inside stores. Citizens were running away, fear in their expressions. Laughing, Rege crossed his hands quickly. The glowing objects flew to the opposite side of the street. Windows were broken, cars were toppled, buildings damaged, alarms and horns erupted, water from the hydrants spewed up and fanned out across the sidewalk and street. The sudden chaos in the calm area quickly gained the Batman’s attention. Batman ordered Robin to continue fighting the criminals invading Gotham. Batman shot a grapple, and he landed softly on the street the chaos came from. His eyes narrowed at the sight of his changed son. The new appearance bothered him more than it should have. He took in the boy’s pale, black veined skin, his black white streaked hair, and his fully black eyes. Rege’s eyes disturbed the Dark Knight; there was no life in them.

“Rege.” Batman growled in greeting.

“Batman.” Rege greeted cheerfully. “Isn’t this just wonderful? Father and son fighting against each other. Never would’ve thought I would be the League’s downfall, did you? I’m the one thing you didn’t plan for.” Rege smirked.

“You are not my son.” Batman growled.

Rege put a hand over his heart and acted like he was hurt.

“That hurts my feelings, Batman. I thought we were close.” Rege said.

“Richard and I were. Give me back my son!” Batman yelled as he lunged forwards.

Rege laughed and raised his hand. A nearby car door glowed black and flew to block Batman’s punch. Deathstroke unsheathed his sword and growled. Batman looked at him. A silent message of ‘you want to stop this as much as I do’ passed between them in a quick glance.

“Slade, stay out of this.” Rege ordered.

Rege made a pushing motion and the car door shoved Batman back.Rege raised his other hand to join the outstretched one and then separated them. The car door split in half and laid horizontally in the air. Rege drew his arm back then thrust it forward in a long arch. The half car door went forwards and swiped at Batman. The Dark Knight was forced to jump back to avoid getting hit by the metal. Rege laughed as he sent the other half of the car door straight at the Man of Bats. Batman quickly threw an explosive batarang at the door. The batarang landed and exploded right before the metal would’ve hit him. Smoke and pieces of metal and plastic showered Batman, who had raised his cape covered arm to shield him. Batman lowered his cape. An explosion suddenly rocked Gotham. Batman looked around, but there was no sign of an explosion. 

**_“Anyone else just feel that?!”_ ** Flash said frantically.

_ Star City felt it? _

**_“Yes, what was it?!”_ ** Many voices were saying yes and asking various questions.

Rege burst into maniacal laughter before looking at Batman with a crazed expression.

“Look up Batman! The sky is falling!” He yelled crazily.

Batman turned to see the massive form of the Watchtower plummeting down to Earth, smoke trailing the massive building. He watched helplessly as it crashed into the Earth. A violent tremor traveled through the ground and sent out a massive wave of debris. Batman quickly raised his cape, but was sent sprawling back by the force of the wave. Once the wave passed, he saw Rege and Deathstroke levitating hundreds of feet off the ground.  _ They must’ve flew up and out of the way.  _ Batman looked back at the crash site. His city was crumbling.  _ How many people? _ There was nothing he could do. He raised his hand to his comlink and clicked it.

**_“The Watchtower...has fallen.”_ **


	16. Chapter 16

Batman made a beeline for the Watchtower, ignoring the panicked yells coming from the comlink. He had to see if any of the Justice League or civilians was trapped inside the fallen space base or stuck under any debris. He heard Rege’s laugh grow quieter as he ran towards the Watchtower. Fire raged and licked at the fallen station. Smoke billowed from the growing flames. Batman stopped to listen for any cries of pain or cries for help. He only heard his heavy breathing and the crack of the fire. Batman made his way around the Watchtower, keeping an eye out for any body part he could see. He saw a large piece of rock move slightly. Batman quickly went over and picked up the giant piece of rock with effort. Batman held the rock up while Green Lantern, without his ring, crawl out. Hal Jordan stood up behind Batman. 

“Where’s your ring?” Batman asked.

“Here, but it’s power is gone..” Hal Jordan answered, holding his hand up.

“Was there anyone with you?” Batman questioned.

Hal shook his head.

“Manhunter phase shifted out and got the others out. He figured I could get out by myself, but as I was flying out, the ring failed and I fell.” Hal answered.

“It failed?” Batman asked to clarify.

“Yes, I’ll admit I didn’t put it in the lantern before this whole situation went to hell.” Hal answered embarrassed.

Batman glared at his incompetence.

“How did the Watchtower fall?” Batman asked.

“Bombs. Someone placed bombs around the base and it unstabilized the tower causing it to fall.” Hal answered.

Batman let out an inaudible sigh. 

“Go and get that thing charged. Be careful not to get killed. Rege is out here.” Batman warned.

“You forget, I’m in the Air Force. I can take care of myself, Dark and Broody,” Hal smirked before turning to leave the Dark Knight.

Batman sighed.  _ Now, we’re one man down. The League need all hands on deck. The team is with their mentors fighting this wave, but the press and government is going to be all over the Justice League having a secret, weaponized space station.  _ Then it clicked.  _ Rege wants to bring the League down by ruining our reputation, turning the public against us.  _ His eyes narrowed.  _ Rege knows how to play this game unlike the other villains. He knows what’s important to the League’s relations.  _ Batman felt a shameful pride.  _ I’ll admit I taught him well, but I never thought those strategies would be used against us. It’s a mockery.  _ Batman sighed before turning to plunge back into the chaotic streets of Gotham. 

**_“Batman to all League and team members.”_ ** Batman said into the comlink.

He was answered with a cacophony of voices asking ‘what the hell happened’ among other things.

**_“Rege bombed the Watchtower and brought it down. We’re going to have a lot of heat from governments and the press about the Watchtower. Rege plans to turn the public against us. The lack of support will cause many of our resources to turn on us. Rege planned this to be our downfall. “_ ** Batman informed his allies.

**_“Is Rege out here?”_ ** Black Canary’s voice asked the loudest.

There were sounds of battle in the background of her words. Batman assumed she was seeing the same things Batman saw before confronting Rege.

**_“Yes.”_ ** Batman replied. 

Tense silence went across the comlink.

**_“I had an encounter with him before the Watchtower fell. He has powers now, kind of like telekinesis. I’m not sure though. If possible, get any kind of sample from him. Maybe we can figure out what happened to him,”_ ** Batman ordered.

**_“I’m going to need assistance to get that.”_ **  Black Canary said.

**_“Robin, is Gotham Police gaining any control of the riots?”_ ** Batman asked his protege.

Batman was answered with a battle cry before Robin spoke.

**_“They’re trying, but there are too many for me to leave them on their own.”_ ** Robin answered sounding distracted. 

**_“Assist them. Any League or team member rendezvous at Canary’s position.”_ ** Batman ordered as he began making his way to the Batcave.

He grappled through his city, knocking out criminals as he went. He came to a Batcave entrance and went inside, not caring if anyone saw. He quickly revved up the Bat and left for Star City. When Batman arrived on scene, he saw Superboy, Aqualad, Green Arrow, Red Arrow, Black Canary, Artemis, and Miss Martian fighting Rege. The villainous boy had four steel doors circling around him and Deathstroke, acting as protection. He grinned as Deathstroke fired off bullets between the spaces of the doors. The mercenary successfully shot  Artemis’ hand making her drop her bow. Rege decided he had enough of blocking the heroes hit and shattered the steel doors. The jagged pieces of steel sharpened into hundreds of spikes. Rege lifted his hands with a smile. He sent the spikes out in a circle around him. The heroes hit the floor, some getting grazed by the steel. Rege then focused on the Bat. Rege smirked as he ordered Deathstroke to defend him as he dealt with Batman. Rege outstretched his hand; the Bat glowing black, and Batman suddenly didn’t have control. The Bat began a fast descent to the ground. Batman opened the hatch and jumped out. He rolled and covered himself with his cape as his Bat exploded upon impact with the ground. Batman heard Rege laugh as he levitated himself and Deathstroke. Acting fast, Green Arrow shot an arrow at Rege. The arrow managed to clip some of Rege’s hair. Rege growled before reaching his hand to Green Arrow. The green archer began to glow black and levitate. He spoke a quick curse before being slammed into the right wall then flung into the left wall and, finally, thrown down onto the roll. The archer rolled to a stop, groaning in pain. Black Canary, Artemis, and Miss Martian quickly rush to Green Arrow’s side as Red Arrow, Superboy, Aqualad, and Batman surge towards Rege. Batman throws explosive batarangs, Red Arrow fires off arrows that release knockout gas on impact, and Aqualad and Superboy were going in for close combat. Aqualad with his water swords, Superboy with his fist. The two brutes were blocked by Deathstroke’s sword and armor. Batman’s batarangs and Red Arrow’s arrows do nothing as they exploded prematurely thanks to Rege throwing pieces of rock expertly at the flying objects. Batman growled before running and jumping over Deathstroke and the two heroes. He landed and aimed a punch at Rege’s stomach. It hit, but Rege was now covered in a hard, black glowing substance. Batman gritted his teeth and landed punch after punch, kick after kick. Nothing got through that shell, no cracks were made. Rege laughed and, with a motion of his hand, sent Batman flying towards the back wall. The man slammed into it, creating a crater around the impact. However, Batman didn’t fall and felt himself being crushed between the wall and an invisible force pushing into him. He groaned in effort and discomfort as he tried to move. His nose had begun to bleed from the pressure. Rege’s laugh increased as Deathstroke fought Aqualad and Superboy. Black Canary had ordered Miss Martian and Artemis to assist the battle before carrying Green Arrow to safety. The martian was using her telekinesis to throw object after object at Rege. Artemis and Red Arrow were firing arrow after arrow, but they would soon be out of arrows.  Rege had expanded the black shell and his formed a translucent sphere around him. Batman could see Rege’s formed outlined in white. Everything inside the sphere was inverted; white was black and black was white. The pressure on Batman was lifted and the man dropped to the floor. He struggled to get to his knees. Rege seemed to be listening to something, then Batman got the same message.

**_“Klarion has the Fate Helmet! I repeat Klarion has the Fate Helmet!”_ ** The panicked voice of Zatanna came to his ear.

Rege spoke into a different comlink. 

“All forces, both objectives have been met.” He informed his dogs.

Rege turned his attention to Deathstroke.

“Slade, our work is done here.” Rege said to his second in command.

Deathstroke nodded while in a sword lock with Aqualad and shooting at Superboy before saying, “Can I finished this up?”

“Of course, let me assist you.” Rege said confidently.

Rege was smirking and he reached an arm out towards Deathstroke. The mercenary was enclosed in a black, protective shell. His weapons were covered with him. Deathstroke’s confidence skyrocketed, and he made quick work of Superboy and Aqualad. Deathstroke quickly nodded at Batman in a secret ‘I’ll try to help on my side’. Batman nodded back. During that quick time frame, Rege had increased his smirk to a crazed laughter and took out Miss Martian with a blast of black energy. Rege calmed himself before addressing Batman.

“It seems the scales of good and evil have been tipped.” He grinned.

Batman glared but said nothing. Rege, still grinning, levitated Deathstroke to his height and then left. Batman walked over to the area that was behind Rege. He picked up Green Arrow’s arrow and some of Rege’s hair. He allowed himself to smirk slightly before standing. He turned to the other, conscious heroes, Artemis, Red Arrow, and Black Canary, with the small smirk in place.

“We have sample to process.” He said.

Black Canary smiled with a hand on her hip. Artemis and Red Arrow, uncharacteristically, high fived in victory. Batman dropped his smirk, slipped the hair sample into his belt, threw Aqualad over his shoulder, and headed towards the nearest zeta beam. He would tell everyone to go to the Batcave since the Watchtower was down, and the Mountain wasn’t as safe as it used to be. Rege’s forces would storm the place when Rege realized what Green Arrow had done. Batman clicked his comlink.

**_“All Leaguers and team members report to the Batcave.”_ ** He ordered.

Black Canary looked at him with shock for a second before shaking her head and picking up the slightly conscious Green Arrow. Artemis picked up Miss Martian and Red Arrow was given the task of getting Superboy to the Batcave. Batman entered the code for the Batcave before stepping into the light and dematerializing with Aqualad on his shoulder. As he materialized into the Batcave, Alfred had rushed down to the Batcave, expecting his master to be severely injured, not for various members of the League to follow him. Alfred sighed in annoyance and slipped on a domino mask and became Agent A. The older man went around to assist in placing injured heroes on medical beds and began checking them out with Martian Manhunter. During the chaos, Batman had stalked over to his computer and began running the analysis of the hair sample and checking League resources. He wasn’t surprised when more than half of them had decided to back out of their deal.

“Wayne Industries is still with us?” Red Arrow said from behind him, “I would’ve thought that guy would back out.” Red Arrow made a ‘tch’ sound before continuing, “Wayne’s probably hiding somewhere in Gotham, being a coward.” 

Everyone who was conscious and knew Batman’s identity, Black Canary, Wonder Woman, Superman, Martian Manhunter, Flash, and Aquaman, looked at Red Arrow and Batman awkwardly. Alfred shot the teen a glare before letting out a stressed sigh and continuing his work with Martian Manhunter’s assistance. Robin glared at Red Arrow until Agent A placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder.

“No need to get annoyed, Young Master. The young Roy does not know identities.” Alfred said.

Robin sighed.

“I know, A. Stop calling me Young Master.” He said.

Alfred let out a sad laugh at how similar Tim and Richard were. Both asked him to stop calling them master, given Richard was much more polite about it. 

“Never.” Alfred responded a bit jokingly.

The computer let out an informing beep letting Batman know the analysis was complete. Batman switched tabs and raised an eyebrow at the result.

“So?” Superman asked.

“Dark matter with some unknown components are inside his hair.” Batman said before descending into thought.

_ Dark matter. Only thought to be theory. The unknown components could be chemical engineering, Joker or Bane venom, possibly Kobra venom, but that would cause deformities to the muscles. Maybe magic, like I thought before. Sorcerers are not known to have this kind of power though. Maybe Klarion could, but he wouldn’t do it if there wasn’t anything in it for him. The Helmet would be the obvious incentive, but this is Rich-Rege. Rege is aiming for something much higher than bringing down the League.  _ Batman let out a frustrated sigh. 

“May I be of any assistance, Master Batman?” Alfred said from beside Batman.

The bold question gained the attention of everyone in the room. No one spoke to Batman while he was in detective mode.  

“It makes no sense.” Batman growled.

Alfred paused, waiting for Batman to continue.

“It’s dark matter with unknown components so I was thinking chemical engineering, magic, or another villains concoction added with the dark matter, but nothing of the kind could do this to my so-Rich” Batman paused, closing his eyes and sighing at his mistakes. “Rege.” He growled stubbornly.

“We’re going to have a chat about that.” Alfred said responding to the way Batman went about addressing Rege.

Batman looked at Alfred with a slightly tortured look. Alfred returned the look with one of sympathy and placed a hand on Batman’s shoulder.

“Anyway, why don’t you compare other villains’ chemical concoctions, magic elements, and anything else that may explain this?” Alfred advised.

Batman took a second before nodding and beginning the comparisons. Agent A waited for Batman to finish starting up the comparisons before dragging the man off. Agent A led Batman to one of the upper levels of the cave. The two men didn’t have total privacy, but it was enough.

“Alfred before you st-” Bruce began.

“No, quiet, Master Bruce.” Alfred began quietly. “Refer to Richard however you must, but do not go back and fix the name you used. It’s disrespectful to him. He may be lost, but we will find him and save him. You have to do that for him.” Alfred said angrily.

Alfred breathed in deeply before continuing.

“I know this is hard on you; it’s hard on all of us. I admit the situation right now is terrible, but I know you. You’ve gone farther with nothing then you have with everything. So tell me why you are not doing this as you normally do. You’re not being as efficient.” He finished.

“Alfred, I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t know if I can fight my own son. Alright, I admit it. I don’t know how to beat it.” Batman said.

“It?! Him, Bruce. Him!” Alfred said loudly. “Richard may be changed into something terrible, but he is still your son, our family. You will refer to him as him. Don’t you ever reduce that boy, that tortured, broken boy, as a thing, an it!” Alfred said, letting his anger take over.

“That’s what he is now! That thing isn’t Richard! The boy I saved was never a murderer! Was never hateful!” Bruce countered.

“HEY!” Tim yelled interrupting the two men. “Fighting gets us nowhere! Stop!” 

“He’s right you know.” A voice said from the shadows.

Batman looked towards where the new voice came from. Selina, dressed in her Catwoman gear, and Deathstroke, in full armor, stepped into the light.

“Hey B.” Selina said with a smirk. “We’re here to help.”


	17. Chapter 17

“Do you know where Green Lantern is?” Deathstroke asked before anyone could comment on his presence.

The heroes down below looked around. Green Lantern wasn’t in the Batcave. 

“Damn it.” Deathstroke said softly.

“Why does that matter?” Batman questioned.

“Richard plans to use the Green Lantern ring to power something. I don’t know what though. I’m his second in command, but he won’t trust me with that information. He’s getting suspicious of me.” Deathstroke replied.

“Which brings what I have to say into light.” Selina said. “I’ve been undercover as a female Talon. I slipped into the system when things were hectic and Rege was taking control. I’ve been looking at some projects going on and I can say they are damn good. Rege plans to bring down the original seven. Word is Rege has been studying other attempts and building off of them. I wish I could tell you what to expect, but he has backup plans for his backup plans. You taught him well, B.” 

Batman interpreted the information before looking at Deathstroke.

“I‘m going to say this once. I am willing to work with you if you promise me something after this is all over.” He said seriously.

“What might that be?” The mercenary responded.

“That will depend on the outcome of this whole deal.” Batman answered.

“Then I agree.” Deathstroke said.

Batman nodded approval before leading the two villains down to the lower level of the Batcave. Batman walked over to his computer. Robin looked at Deathstroke warily. He knew what the man had done to Richard, the first Robin. Deathstroke laughed.

“Don’t worry, kid. I’m only interested in Richard. He has a certain finesse that is perfect for my line of work.” He said to Robin.

“Sorry, but I can’t help of thinking about how obsessed you were rumored to be about the first Robin,” Robin responded.

“As I said, only obsessed with the first. He is especially thrilling, a particularly unique challenge,” Deathstroke said easily.

“Wilson.” Batman said to get the mercenary’s attention.

He may be working with the man, but that didn’t mean he trusted the mercenary with his second son.

“What made Rege?” Batman asked.

Deathstroke was silent before sighing.

“Dark matter spiced up with some Lord of Chaos and sorcerer magic, ancient artifact. Cobb injected something into the boy’s arm and the others began chanting something. God, Richard screamed like hell. He was in pain for sure.” Deathstroke laughed a little. “He was betrayed by his own blood. Anyway, Cobb said he was the sacrificial lamb. The Court wanted something they could control. You know how well that worked, half the Owls are dead. Richard began to take the Court, then the Light, and, finally, villains in various cities. This has been going on for about six months. He’s had a lot of time to plan this whole shebang out.”

“What did the sorcerers say?” Zatanna asked from behind the mercenary.

Deathstroke looked over his shoulder, but Zatanna could only see the black side of his mask.

“Sorry, but I wasn’t in the room. I was just looking in. I couldn’t hear their chants over Richard’s screaming.” Deathstroke responded.

“Well we know for sure it’s magic related...What does Rege want with Fate’s helmet?” Robin asked.

“Fate’s helmet? Oh, that was just for Klarion to do some magic crap. Something about ‘accessing profound power’.” Deathstroke answered.

“That could be the space between the Chaos power and Fate power.” Zatanna answered.

“And that is?” Kid Flash said from further back.

“It’s like a build up of power exerted by the two Lords, but it isn’t dedicated to a side. It just exists, but it’s very unstable. A Lord of Chaos and Fate must work together to control it.” Zatanna cleared up.

“Zatanna, what would happen if a Lord of Chaos put on Fate’s Helmet?” Batman questioned, links forming in his mind.

“It would be a very unbalanced surge of power from both sides and the space between. It could cause a great deal of damage.” Zatarra said from one of the medical beds.

Zatanna rushed over and hugged her, now awake, father.

“And that combined with a Green Lantern’s and, assuming Sinestro is with Rege, Sinestro’s ring?” Batman pressed.

“Some control would be gained, but this is all theory. It could be completely different.” Zatarra said truthfully.

“So no one has ever combined the three?” Robin asked.

“Not to our knowledge. It’s not recorded either.” Zatanna answered.

“Could that be what Rege is planning?” Superman asked Deathstroke.

“It’s possible. The kid is intelligent. He wouldn’t plan things that may have a chance of failing, but if no one has ever tried it, I bet he’d be willing to be the first.” Deathstroke answered.

“So we have theory after theory, nothing solid?” Flash asked.

“Hey. I never said we didn’t have anything solid.” Selina hissed.

“Then?” Flash urged.

“I know for sure, that Rege is planning to-” Selina started, but was cut off by the very boy crashing through the ceiling.

Glowing black, Rege levitated into the cave. Behind the boy, glowing the same black, was Scarecrow, Mr. Freeze, Reverse Flash, Two-Face, and General Zod. Rege looked enraged as he looked at Deathstroke from his position in the air.

“Slade.” He hissed. 

Deathstroke took a fearful step back.

“Everyone else is yours. Deathstroke remains mine. Anyone who goes after him will be killed in the most painful way I can think of in my rage.” Rege hissed, addressing the villains over his shoulder.

“Double agent, Rege.” Deathstroke tried.

Rege’s black eyes glowed with power as he dropped the other villains.

“Double agents feed information to both sides. You are still a traitor.” Rege snarled as he raised his arm.

Deathstroke glowed black and was levitated to Rege’s level. Rege gave a growl before slamming Deathstroke into the rock diagonally from him. At that moment, a blur of yellow and a blur of red flew around the cave. Kid Flash soon joined the fight. Mr. Freeze went for the arrows and Black Canary. General Zod attacked the supers. Scarecrow went for anyone within range and Two-Face charged for the two Bats. Martian Manhunter and some of the other heroes began to take all the injured out of the Batcave and to safety through the zeta tube. Rege had been slamming Slade into wall after wall, hero after hero. Rege was enraged by Slade’s betrayal but couldn’t bring himself to kill the man. Despite everything, Rege had developed a soft spot for the mercenary. That little fact infuriated Rege further and the slams began to have more force. After a couple minutes, Rege dropped Deathstroke, took a breath, and shook his head to clear it. Rege’s eyes weren’t glowing anymore, and he levitated towards the Batcave’s computer. 

“I believe you have something of mine.” He said.

Rege outstretched his hand and started clenching it into a fist. The computer’s metal bent and folded, destroying itself. Rege then found his hair sample and levitated it into his waiting palm. Rege didn’t really know what to do with the jet black hair, but it suddenly burst into dark flames. Rege looked at his palms.  _ Cool. Black flames could come in handy.  _ Rege closed his eyes and concentrated on creating dark flames in his palm. When he opened his eyes, his palms were engulfed in dark flames. He looked at them in fascination before turning around to the fight behind him with a smirk. Elbows bent, hands out had made motions to send out flames. Rege was sending heat out at anyone near, then he saw Miss Martian. He gave a small laugh before aiming at the martian girl. Flames flew across the room and were true to their target. They hit Miss Martian in the back. He cloak caught on fire and she fell to the floor. Superboy, being the gentlemen he is, tore the cloak off and looked in the direction of the flames. He snarled as he saw Rege’s cocky smirk. He roared and charged Rege.

“Superboy! No!” Miss Martian yelled after her boyfriend.

Superboy ignored her and immediately regretted it. Rege didn’t even stretch out a fiery hand, but Superboy was glowing black all the same. Superboy was slammed into the floor four times; Rege levitated him and thought about doing it again, but the clone was unconscious so he dropped him. Superboy fell limply to the floor. Miss Martian quickly rushed over, tears in her eyes. She looked up at Rege.

“Why?! We were your friends!” She said angrily, but also desperately as she cried.

“Oh, martian,” Rege said shaking his head a little, “you know nothing of the nature of the world. I pity you.”

Miss Martian cried but looked at Rege angrily. She rose from the ground and levitated, her face tightening in focus and effort. Her eyes glowed green, something new to the League, and focused on Rege, trying to attack him mentally. Rege laughed at the martian.

“Very nice. Much more powerful than your regular attempts.” Rege said, unaffected by the martians attempt.

Miss Martian’s countenance slacked and her eyes went back to their normal color. She fell to her knees, tears streaking down her face. Rege walked over the fallen martian and bent over. His face level with hers.

“No, no, no. Try again. I want you to feel how useless it is to fight me.” Rege complained.

Miss Martian let out an angered cry before throwing a punch at Rege. Rege, of course, formed the protective shell and tsked at Miss Martian.

“M’gann. Punching? That’s so unlike you. Did I anger you that much? Or, did I sadden you that much?” Rege teased.

Miss Martian was crying heavily, frustration building.

“Get away from her!” Artemis shouted and used her bow as a bludgeon.

Rege put his forearm up and formed a circular shield to block her bow.

“Hello, Artemis. So good of you to join the party.” Rege said.

“She’s not the only one.” Robin shouted as he went for a kick to Rege.

Rege used his other arm and stretched out his hand. A blast of black energy sent the young bat sprawling backwards. 

“Now that the replacement is dealt with, we can play.” Rege said sweetly.

Rege’s shield sprouted spikes and Artemis was forced to jerk back. Rege laughed as he stalked forward, looking intimidating, his hands down at his sides. Two black swords formed from his palms. Artemis looked around. Some heroes were down. Superman and Wonder Woman were taking on General Zod. Two-Face had been taken down, but Batman was now after Mr. Freeze, who had frozen a number of heroes in place. The Flashes were just two blurs going after another blur, Reverse Flash in a high speed fight. Scarecrow was also down, but Agent A was going around injecting writhing heroes with what Artemis assumed was the antidote for Scarecrow’s fear gas. Miss Martian was levitating Superboy to safety. Aqualad and Aquaman were frozen to the wall with the other frozen heroes. Artemis was on her own. 

“What’s wrong, Artie? Afraid to take me on by yourself? Come now, you’re a big girl.” Rege teased.

Artemis growled and charged Rege bravely. Rege laughed and sent out an energy pulse to send her back a few steps. Rege raised his swords and began swiping at Artemis. He cut her uniform every time, some providing shallow cuts. He let out another energy pulse and slammed her into the cave wall. Rege laughed and charged forwards, sword raised to pierce the archer’s heart. Only it didn’t. Alfred had shoved himself between Rege and Artemis. Rege had moved the sword last second and it went through the butler’s chest centimeters from anything vital. Rege looked at the older man with wide eyes. Crystal blue eyes emerging from the black. Alfred grabbed the blade tightly. Blood began to seep from the cut Alfred was causing in his hand.

“Alfred.” Rege whispered.

“See...I knew you were...still in there.” Alfred said, pausing as both wounds pulsed with pain. 

“Alfred!” Batman yelled.

The yell made Rege retract the blade and the crystal blues to disappear. Rege caught Alfred as he fell forward onto Rege.

“Sorry, Alfred, but Richard’s not here.” He whispered in his ear as he lowered him to the ground.

Rege gently placed the old butler on the ground and ordered a retreat. They had done what Rege came there to do.

* * *

 

Rege sat in his office chair. His feet weren’t up on the desk and he wasn’t moving, lost in thought. The raw feeling of betrayal was still fresh on his mind, but that wasn’t what he was concerned about.  _ I stabbed Alfred. He could die. I know I want the League gone, but Alfred...Alfred is different.  _ Rege’s hand tightened into a fist, his fingernails digging into his palms.  _ Damn it. I’m not supposed to be feeling like this. They betrayed me! Replaced me! They don’t care! Why do I care about Alfred?!  _ Rege let out a frustrated sigh.  _ Emotions are so bothersome.  _ Then an idea came to his mind. Rege grinned. 


	18. Chapter 18

“All project deadlines have been moved up! We’re starting our final assault as soon as possible!” Rege shouted as he ordered his scientists and workers.

The sudden move up caused various employees to look up at Rege with disbelief. Rege was levitating near the ceiling of the lab in the Court of Owls headquarters. 

“But, Sir, we expect this to be another three weeks!” A scientist yelled up at Rege.

Rege locked his black eyes on the scientist.

“I realize this. I apologize about the sudden high gear mentality, but I want this done as soon as possible. Let’s not prolong this war.” Rege reasoned.

_ That’s not the real reason, but they’ll believe it.  _ That’s right. It wasn’t the real reason. Rege was emotionally unstable. Well, he has been, but the recent events made him more unstable.  _ Deathstroke betrayed me, I stabbed Alfred and felt horrible about it, and I am getting more and more antsy to fight the final battle.  _ Rege huffed a frustrated sigh. Most of the projects were complete and ready to be wielded in battle, but Rege wasn’t ready to show his numerous ace cards. Rege realized he had levitated there for the time he was thinking. The scientists were still looking at him. Rege sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He was stressed out.

“That is all. Get back to work.” Rege ordered.

The scientist obeyed and went back to working on their assigned projects. Rege returned to his office and gazed at the monitors on the right wall. Rege looked over his empire. He gave another frustrated sigh. He didn’t feel the same power and pride as he did when he first started this mission. He wondered why that was. He pondered.  _ Maybe it’s because I’m in the middle of war. Or I don’t have Slade at my side.  _ Rege ran his hands across his face with a frustrated noise.

“I don’t get it!” He said to no one. “I’m a leader, damn it! I shouldn’t be this...this emotional towards my enemies!” 

Rege’s strong frustration caused various objects in his office to glow and compress until they cracked and broke under the strain. Rege snapped his head up when he heard things break. He sighed again.  _ Another sigh, I seem to be doing that a lot lately.  _ He looked at the pieces of wood, steel, plastic, and other material on his floor.  _ I can’t even control my powers.  _ That thought brought him back to the idea he had the day before. He gave a slight laugh.  _ How stupid. To think I thought of forcing this growing burden of a power on Alfred. The old butler might not have been able to handle the process. That dark matter combined with sorcery might have well killed him had I carried out my plan.  _ The day before Rege had journeyed to Wayne Manor in Gotham and planned to kidnap Alfred. Upon arrival, he saw Alfred at the table with Tim, Bruce, Jim Gordon, Barbara Gordon, and another teenager with black hair. Dinner was already on the table and it looked absolutely divine. Rege remembered all the delicious things Alfred made and began to miss the little things like that.  As he observed them, Alfred looked happy, but scolded the nameless teen. Rege assumed the teen had said something vulgar due to the look Alfred and Bruce gave him and the wide-eyed one Tim gave the teen. Rege ignored it and began to raise his hands to attack, however, once he saw the empty chair at the left of the head of the table on the opposite side of where they were sitting, he stared at it and lowered them. That was  _ his _ chair, the empty chair no one dared sit in, was his chair when he lived at the manor. Bruce said something with a raised glass and Rege recognized his name come from Bruce’s lips.  _ To Richard, may he rest in peace and be happy with his parents.  _ Rege starred as the others looked at the empty chair with saddened expressions. Alfred had teared up and added something to Bruce’s toast.  _ May he forever be on the side of angels and, should he ever stray, may he be saved.  _ Rege felt tears well up and heat his black eyes. He now knew that Alfred was disappointed in him, saddened by the fact that he had fallen from the angels. The Gordon’s looked at Alfred in confusion but accepted it due to Alfred’s countenance. Tim, Bruce, and the unknown teen looked at each other with a look of knowing. Rege forgot his intention and left. The empty chair and their words were the subject of his thoughts. Rege felt the tears break from his eyes and fall. He wiped them away angrily and and continued his flight to the Court’s headquarters and to his office. Rege knew the Batcave and the Manor were repaired three weeks ago and had the urge to go and mess it up again as a payment for them causing him this much emotion. Now, Rege sat in his office contemplating how to force Green Lantern to cooperate, but his thoughts often drifted to the previous night.

* * *

 

Bruce Wayne was also thinking of that night. At the dinner, he saw Rege through the window. The boy looked like he was there with a purpose. He even began to raise his hands, but lowered them when he saw the chair. Bruce didn’t know why Rege was there, but he did know the boy realized why that chair was empty. Bruce made the customary toast, but he didn’t expect  Alfred to add onto his toast. He was grateful he did though, Rege had looked torn up by the words Alfred said. Bruce watched as the boy’s eyes watered and a lone tear fell. He had to resist the fatherly urge to comfort his lost son. Tim noticed and gazed at the window. He saw Rege’s retreating form and looked at Bruce in a silent ‘do we go after him?’. Bruce responded with ‘no, he didn’t do anything’. Their new member, Jason, looked at Bruce and Tim.

“No, don’t include the rest of the table in your silent conversation.” Jason said sarcastically.

Bruce looked at him. Tim looked at the recovered Alfred with a bored, uncaring expression and didn’t get involved.

“We weren’t having a conversation.” Bruce said with a smirk. “But you thinking we did is flattering. It means you honestly think I can keep something secret.” He laughed.

“You’re a billionaire. I bet you have some things in the closet, and I aim to find out what skeletons you have.” Jason responded. 

Bruce sighed at the angry teenager. Tim remained uninvolved, but began conversing with the Gordons. Alfred had gone to the kitchen to get dessert and set it on the table so he didn’t have to leave the table. Now, Bruce sat in his chair in the Batcave with Tim. They hadn’t told Jason about their night activities and didn’t plan to until Jason Todd was comfortable in the Manor. He had only lived there for two weeks after all.

“Drake!” The teen yelled from upstairs. “Can you come and help me out? I’m not really good at math.” 

There was a pause of silence.

“Where are you?” Jason yelled through the manor.

“Master Tim is most likely in his room listening to music as usual, Master Jason.” Alfred’s voice was heard.

They heard Jason let out an annoyed sound.

“That bastard’s going to be deaf by the time he’s twenty.” Jason said.

“Master Jason, please try to refrain from using such language.” Alfred requested.

“Sure, Alfie.” Jason said.

Bruce could see the hurt look on Alfred’s face at the name. Richard used to call Alfred that. Jason knew of Richard but didn’t know anything other than the fact that Richard existed and is now gone.

“Sorry if that brought anything up.” Jason apologized.

“No, it’s alright.” Alfred responded.

There was silence and Tim took that as his cue to go upstairs and say he was out in the garden as an excuse for not responding to Jason’s yells. Tim got up and went upstairs leaving Bruce alone. Bruce thought of Richard and how it would be had he been here. Richard was a few years older than both Tim and Jason. Richard was fifteen now, two months from sixteen.  _ Wow, almost five years and everything had gone to shit then calmed and went to shit again.  _ Tim is eleven; Jason thirteen. Richard would’ve been the older brother the two looked up to. The responsible one of the three. Bruce thought fondly of Richard. He would be serious when needed, advising when the need came, gentle and understanding with the two younger boys, the perfect older brother. Bruce thought of Rege now, black eyes, white skin. He was much taller. Bruce sighed as he realized he separated Richard and Rege, as if they were different people. It was a similar situation with Richard and Other all those years ago, except Richard had influence on Other. Richard was lost now, he didn’t exist. 

“Masters, dinner!” Alfred shouted from the manor.

Bruce got up and walked upstairs, he would go out patrolling later tonight. He smiled at Alfred as he sat at the head of the table on the right side. They agreed to leave Richard’s chair empty. The two boys came and sat. Tim talking about a math problem and Jason asking the occasional question as dinner was served. Bruce allowed them to eat without a thought to Richard, but he thought a thought of hope to save Richard.  _ I want to get my son back.  _ Alfred sat with them and they ate. It was peaceful and happy, until Jason spoke.

“So...how did Grayson…” He trailed.

Bruce looked at him before looking down at his food.

“We were out and Richard was grabbed. He was shot and taken away. It was a kidnap attempt gone wrong, but we never found his body.” Bruce answered, allowing no emotion to seep into his words. 

The ambiance of the dinner turned grim and depressed.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I didn’t know he was...murdered. Did they ever find the people?” Jason asked.

“Sadly, no. They didn’t.” Bruce answered.

Bruce put his fork down. He lost his appetite.

“Has Batman done anything?” Jason asked in a quiet voice.

“I’m sure he’s investigated, but it’s been almost a year. No one thinks he is still alive.” Bruce answered.

Jason didn’t have another question, but Bruce left his fork on his plate.

“Excuse me.” Bruce said and left the table.

He went to his study and sat in his chair. He began doing what he does best, working.

In the dining room, Tim looked at Jason.

“Way to go, Todd.” He growled.

“I just wanted now, Drake. No one around here talks about Grayson. If I hadn’t seen a picture of him hidden in Bruce’s study, I would never had known he existed. Hell, I don’t even know anything about him other then what I just learned.” Jason growled back.

“Now, now, Master Bruce always does that if a subject makes him uncomfortable and will eventually begin to talk about Master Richard.” Alfred responded, diffusing the tension.

“Why don’t you?” Jason asked the butler.

“I was very close with Master Richard. His death affected me deeply and I am not able to talk of him without getting emotional and crying.” Alfred answered, candidly.

“Oh.” Was all Jason said.

* * *

 

Rege had called all the villains who supported him to the Power Project laboratory. He ordered them to stand in a circle around the project. Rege floated above them, but not too far. If they jumped, they could grab his ankle. In the center of the round room was a contraption with Green Lantern, who was tied up and knocked out, on the right, Sinestro on the left, and Klarion in the middle with Fate’s Helmet. The Lantern had his arm stretched out, ring on his finger. Sinestro did the same, but wasn’t in the same state Green Lantern was in. Klarion lifted the helmet to look at it’s empty eyes. Klarions eyes glowed red as he began to tap into the unsided power. Green Lantern’s ring and Sinestro created a laser of green and yellow at a crystal on a pedestal. Klarion said a chant and twisting yellow and red light shot for the crystal. As soon as the mingled light hit the crystal, a light blue light spread from the crystal and hit every villain in the room. Most of them fell to their knees as the uncontrollable power surged through them. It engulfed Rege, but all he did was embrace it. It felt like hurricane of power whirling around him, but he remained floating and still. The light blue power was gone after a few seconds. Klarions eyes had changed to a light purplish color. He had taken the power just fine. Some villains were on the floor, passed out but breathing. Some villains had taken it with a struggle and others had taken it fine. Rege let out a crazed laugh as he felt powerful, all doubt from the day gone. He felt powerful, prideful, and happy at the thought of his soon to be empire. All projects were done and this was the final one. His laugh got louder.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we start our siege in one hour! Be ready to take to world by storm!” He encouraged his new dogs.

“Each villain will go to a country and lead the attacks! I shall take the United States and the League.” Rege shouted.

Most villains raised protest at that last part.

“I gave you power. I can take it away.” Rege snarled at the protest.

They stopped and went of to do their tasks, little did Rege know, Selina was leaving, struggling with the power she accidently got. She was heading for Wayne Manor.


	19. Chapter 19

Selina stumbled onto the Wayne Manor grounds.  _ So close. Come on, you can get there. Tough it out.  _ The power forced into her at Rege’s base was still making her want to writhe and curl up on the ground. She ignored the urge and gritted her teeth, continuing her taxing journey. Losing all grace, she staggered to the front door and slammed against it in a full body knock. The door opened, and she fell inside, landing on her side. She looked up and saw a blurry Alfred. She smiled.

“Surprise.” She said weakly.

“Master Bruce!” Alfred yelled before running to get the First Aid kit.

Selina heard multiple rushed steps before she saw Bruce with Tim and Jason trailing behind.

“Selina?” Bruce said before kneeling down to look her over. “What happened?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Selina forced out through the pain. “Rege is making his final attack in less than an hour.” She grabbed Bruce’s collar, pulled him down, and glared into his eyes. “You get Richard back or I will scratch those pretty eyes out.” She growled before letting Bruce’s collar go.

Bruce stayed silent, and Alfred arrived in the room with the Batcave First Aid. The butler shooed them away and got to work, but soon realized there were no physical wounds except for a few first degree burns. He looked questioningly at Selina. The woman just sighed and gave in to her urge. She curled up and held herself as the power rocked her body. Bruce stood and turned to go to the Batcave.

“What’s going on? Why is Selina talking about that psycho Rege and Grayson?!” Jason Todd demanded.

“Jason now is not the time for me to explain, but I can tell you this, follow me,” Bruce responded over his shoulder. 

Jason looked at Tim, who just smiled and followed Bruce. Jason looked at Alfred in a silent ‘are they for real?’. Alfred gave a small smile and nodded as he hovered over Selina. Jason sighed before following Bruce and Tim. He watched Bruce play a certain tune on the grand piano and a bookcase moved aside to reveal and staircase down. Bruce and Tim went down while Jason stared with his mouth open. He was beginning to have an idea of what they were showing him. Jason grinned before running down the stairs after Bruce and Tim. He emerged into the Batcave. Bruce stood proudly in his cape and Tim in his Robin uniform. 

“Knew you had something in your closet.” Jason grinned and crossed his arms over his chest. “When do I start?”

“You don’t. Not today. I need you on comms and tech.” Bruce said. “I don’t want to put you out in the field with just street fighting skills.” 

Jason sighed but understood that staying in the Batcave to do whatever Bruce told him to do was as good as he was getting that night. 

“Fine,” Jason grumbled.

Tim laughed.

“Don’t worry I was there once and I’m sure Grayson was too, and he was the best Robin. I’m still working to become a good hero. It pays off.” Tim said to ease Jason’s frustration.

Bruce gave a slight smile before pulling up his cowl. Tim put his mask in place.

“For now, call all heroes and inform them of Code 7,” Batman ordered.

“Code 7?” Jason repeated.

“Get in contact and say Code 7. Once they respond move on to the next. Another option is to do a League and Team contact then move onto the independent heroes.” Batman replied.

Batman and Robin got onto their motorcycles and revved them up. Giving a nod to each other and Jason, they left for Gotham.

“Ooookaaaay. I’ll just have to figure this out…” Jason said before sitting at the large holo-computer.

He sighed.

* * *

 

It took a few minutes before Batman heard his comlink crackle to life.

**_“All League and Team members, Code 7,”_ ** Jason said through the link.

**_“Flash responding.”_ **

**_“Superman responding.”_ **

**_“Wonder Woman responding to threat.”_ **

**_“Batman and Robin already in route to Gotham and responding.”_ **

Batman listened for a certain hero.  _ Green Lantern didn’t respond.  _ He clicked his link.

**_“Lantern, respond,”_ ** Batman ordered but received no reply.

**_“Don’t worry Bats. I have Green Lantern.”_ ** A familiar voice replied. 

Batman growled. He could hear Rege’s smirk.

**_“Rege.”_ ** He growled.

**_“You remembered. I’m surprised. I mean you did replace me so soon.”_ ** Rege replied.

**_“The dead are supposed to stay dead,”_ ** Batman growled.

**_“Ooh, that hurt,”_ ** Rege answered teasingly.  **_“How’s that traitor Slade? And Selina? She was hit pretty hard.”_ **

**_“Manhunter,”_ ** Batman said.

A few seconds after the name, Batman felt a mindlink connection with the League and Team.

* * *

 

Despite knowing Martian Manhunter had created a mindlink between all the good guys, Rege continued to speak into the comlink.

**_“It’s rude to have a conversation without someone.”_ ** Rege chided. 

**_“Not when the person isn’t invited or wanted,”_ ** Robin replied.

**_“Replacement! So good to hear from you. Are you ready to dance and die?”_ ** Rege said with a grin. 

He knew Batman would reply after the question. Rege narrowed his eyes when Batman didn’t respond.

**_“Don’t worry, Little Robin, we all fall, and if I do, I’m taking all of you down...”_ ** Rege said.

He left it unfinished, but he flew over to where Batman and Robin were speeding through the streets. 

“With me,” Rege spoke into Robin’s ear and, in turn, his comlink.

A collective gasp came from the link causing Rege to laugh. Rege shot forwards and tackled Robin off his motorcycle. Rege let Robin hit the asphalt as he ascended to levitate in both of the heroes views. He grinned.

“It’s too late, you know. Villains and dogs are flooding cities right now, and there’s nothing you can do about it.” Rege smirked.

“We have a weapon of our own,” Batman growled.

“And I have twenty to counter it.” Rege grinned. “Well, I don’t, per se, my dogs do.” 

Batman smiled. 

“That’s just wrong,” Rege muttered.

Batman held up a vibrant blue liquid like it was the best ace up his sleeve.

“And that is?” Rege asked.

“A chemical mixture to reverse the dark matter and sorcery that made you this powerful,” Batman answered.

Rege’s black eyes widened a bit before his face turned neutral with a wave of hidden anger.  _ Slade.  _

“You shouldn’t have let Deathstroke live,” Batman said.

Rege gritted his teeth. He stretched out a hand and went for the vial. However, his power couldn’t grip it. Rege got angrier and turned his power to a nearby car, tossing it at Batman and Robin. It was then that Rege felt a fast approaching presence. He spun around just in time to catch Superman’s fist in his hand. Rege lost a little height but didn’t move. He glared at Superman before the black, glowing shell crept over his body. Superman looked at Rege with shock and a splash of fear. Rege took this to his advantage and kicked Superman hard in the stomach sending the Man of Steel crashing into the street. Rege turned and flew for Batman. Batman jumped over Rege, but Rege flew up behind Batman. He raised his fist to punch the Caped Crusader but was sent back into a building when a batarang exploded in his side. Robin shared a look with Batman. Rege growled.

“No Bat-talk!” He yelled before getting up. 

Rege wasn’t up for long. Deathstroke had been up on the roofs looking for a sniping spot. Slade settled down on a three-story office building. He loaded a rifle. It wasn’t any rifle, however, this rifle could shoot explosive, freezing, and regular rounds. Deathstroke loaded the rifle with a freezing round and shot Rege. The bullet ripped through flesh but exploded on impact with bone. Ice burst from the wound and enveloped Rege.  _ Ice. Really?  _ Rege focused on his protective shell and expanded it. The shell expanded and broke the ice. Rege looked up at Deathstroke as his wound began to heal. Rege sent a surge of power at Superman, Batman, and Robin, sending them flying away from him.

“Shit.” Slade cursed as he stood.

Rege reached his hand towards the traitor and grabbed Slade. The mercenary was brought to the edge of the roof and dropped. Slade landed on the asphalt with a thud. Rege began to walk towards the mercenary.

“I won’t make the mistake of letting you live again,” Rege growled.

He reached for a car door and brought it forward. He positioned it above Slade's waist and lifted it.

“Hey Deathstroke, I just thought of a pun. Could you say you’re a Renegade?” He teased.

“Couldn’t you have cut me in half before you said that?” Deathstroke replied.

“No,” Rege said.

Rege slammed the car door down on Slade. Blood splattered onto the door and Rege. The liquid life pooled below the mercenary. 

“I’m...sorry...for everything,” Slade said before coughing up some blood.

“You’re not forgiven,” Rege said as he turned.

As Rege was dealing with Slade, Batman called the rest of the League and Team to come to Gotham after they finished off the more powerful villains in their cities. By the time Slade said sorry, they were all there. When Rege began to turn, Batman gave the signal to attack all at once. The goal was to confine not defeat. If they could hold Rege down long enough, he could administer the reversal solution. The heroes dog piled on Rege. Batman fought to get to Rege’s skin. Rege struggled and used nearby objects to knock heroes off of him. Getting fed up with having trouble breathing, Rege let out a war cry and sent a surge of energy around him. The heroes on top of him were catapulted off and away from him. Rege stood and began to levitate. His eyes were glowing black, his fists balled tightly, his face revealed his anger. 

“I’m done playing,” Rege growled.


	20. Chapter 20

The heroes on top of Rege were catapulted off and away from him. Rege stood and began to levitate. His eyes were glowing black, his fists balled tightly, his face revealed his anger. 

“I’m done playing,” Rege growled.

As soon as he finished the short, intimidating sentence, Rege pounded his hands into the street. The ground beneath the hero's feet began to crack and shift. Sharp pieces of asphalt and sidewalk concrete splinters, some were levitated up and floated. Rege growled as he launched pieces at the heroes. Superman, Superboy, Wonder Woman, and the Hawks simply punch them into pieces. Batman, Robin, and the Arrows jumped and dodged the rock pieces. Other heroes flew out of the way or shielded themselves. Rege, however, wasn’t done. He thrust his hands into the air beside him and black lightning sparked at his fingertips. He shot the bolts at the heroes. Some bolts came in contact with flesh and electrocuted the unfortunate hero into unconsciousness. 

“Rege! We don’t have to settle this with a fight!” Black Canary yelled.

Rege laughed.

“This can’t be settled with words” He growled.

Batman took advantage of this small time frame to jump over to Slade’s separated corpse. The man’s torso was slightly rising and falling. Batman resisted the urge to flinch as he touched the man’s bloodied torso and pushed it towards the lower half. 

“I really hope you’re right about your healing factors capabilities.” He muttered.

Batman placed a syringe filled with the reversing solution in Deathstroke’s hand and closed the fingers around the tube.  _ This better work.  _ Batman stood and returned to the battle. Rege was fighting off the Supers and many other vigilantes. Rege was using pieces of concrete to block blows and knock heroes out. Unknown to the do-gooders, Rege wasn’t using half his power. He was focusing it to the center of his being, building it up for a rapid release, an energy bomb. All he had to do was keep this up for a few minutes longer. Rege kept an eye out for the reversal solution and, if he saw it, destroying it. Rege catapulted a piece of concrete at Miss Martian. The girl was knocked out of the air and slammed into Artemis, Hawkwoman, and Zatana. Rege quickly used their vulnerability to levitate a huge piece of asphalt over them and drop it. Zatana quickly cast a spell and the asphalt turned to water, soaking the three woman. Rege focused some energy on the water and froze it to black ice. The ice transformed into sharp, ice daggers. Rege aimed each of them at a hero and shot them. The daggers were narrowly dodged by most of the attacking heroes, giving them small cuts. Zatana got hit in the arm, and the ice dagger sunk deep into her muscle. The ice quickly spread from the dagger and encased the sorceress in ice. The same happened with Hawkman, Captain Marvel, and, new arrival, Supergirl. Aquaman and Flash quickly focused on getting the frozen heroes free. Rege began laughing. The energy bomb was complete. 

“It was a nice fight, but it’s over.” Rege snarled.

Rege let go of all control he had over the built up energy and a strong wave of black energy encircled him and ripped away from his center. All of the heroes were thrown back. Many of them were knocked unconscious by the impact. The ice encasing the heroes was broken as it fell, but no conscious hero emerged. Some buildings collapsed and streetlights fell.  All was quiet as Rege looked around. No movement caught his eye.

“Pathetic.” He spat and began to fly towards Wayne Enterprises.

Deathstroke hid on top of a building, again.  _ Good thing Batman plans for things like this.  _ As soon as he saw Rege’s hair, he jumped and tackled the boy out of the air. Struggling, they fell. Rege was under Slade, so he slammed into the street and slid. Deathstroke raised the syringe to Rege’s neck. Realizing what Deathstroke objective was, Rege released an angry cry and plunged his arm through Slade’s stomach then shoved the man off himself. Slade held his bleeding stomach as Rege resumed his flight at a faster pace. Batman pushed a piece of building up and off himself, Robin, and an unconscious Wonder Woman. Batman turned to Robin.

“Stay here and recuperate with the others. I’m going to go after Rege.” He ordered.

“Wait, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Robin said as Batman began to leave.

“Robin, I’m telling you to abandon the fight. I’m telling you to get all fight suitable Justice League and Team members and join me at Wayne Enterprises so we can end this.” Batman replied.

“I still don’t like it, but fine,” Robin said.

Batman nodded and shot a grapple to follow Rege. Robin jumped out of their cradle and began searching for people. 

Batman stood at the base of his company building, preparing himself for the upcoming battle.  _ Why is my building always the final stage? _ He hesitantly shot a grapple and ascended to the roof. Batman landed and stood a few yards from Rege, his back facing Batman. The boy looked over his shoulder.

“I knew it would be you.” He said.

“That was quite the trick you had up your sleeve,” Batman replied.

“It’s not the only one,” Rege responded.

“Well then, I guess it’s good I have some of my own,” Batman said.

Rege turned to face him. His black eyes boring into Batman’s eyes. 

“Do you honestly think they will work?” Rege asked.

“I am almost certain they will,” Batman answered with confidence.

He planned to appeal to Richard, not Rege. 

“You seem very confident.” Rege hissed as he raised his glowing hands.

“I am,” Batman said as he went into a ready position.

They stood there, muscles tense and ready to spring, the tension in the air thick, waiting for one of them to make a move. Rege shot his hand out at Batman and sent an energy ball at the Caped Crusader. Batman dove and rolled out of the way. He quickly kneeled and threw a batarang. Rege shot energy at the batarang. The object blew up as it made contact with Rege’s counter-attack, creating a smoke cloud. Batman melted into the smoke. Rege simply encased himself in the black protective shell, but his shell began to fade. 

“What?!” He yelled as he began to feel weak.

Rege began to cough and fell to his knees.  _ The smoke! Something in the smoke!  _ Rege growled and covers his nose and mouth in an attempt to keep the smoke out of his airways.

“I have more where that came from, Rege.” Batman’s voice echoed in the night.

“That’s a dirty trick!” Rege yelled in frustration.

“But effective.” Batman countered before continuing, “Tell me, how did you feel after you stabbed Alfred?” 

Rege froze. He felt terrible but he couldn’t tell Batman that.

“Why does it matter?” Rege said as he stood.

The smoke was beginning to clear.

“I know you felt terrible about it. You didn’t have to tell me that. Alfred told me your eyes flickered to normal for a split second. Is he your weakness? You used to be very close to him.” Batman answered.

“I don’t care about anyone,” Rege growled in denial.

“Then why did you come to Wayne Manor a few nights ago? You were ready to attack. Why didn’t you? Why did you cry?” Batman fired question after question.

“The reasons I do anything is of none of your concern!” Rege yelled as he focused his powers on piping in the building under his feet.

He yanked the metal pipes up and through the roof creating an uneven surface. Rege smirked as he heard a stumbling of footsteps.

“Gotcha!” He yelled.

Rege threw pipes towards the sound of the stumbling. Batman ducked and threw another batarang. Rege dodged it.

“They’re useless if they don’t hit anything,” Rege smirked, but he spoke too soon.

The batarang exploded behind him and more smoke flooded the roof again. Rege growled as he began feeling weaker than he already felt from the last dose. 

“You spoke too soon.” Batman’s voice came from all around Rege.

“Stop this stupid game of cat and mouse!” Rege yelled into the smoke.

“As you wish, Mouse.” Catwoman’s voice spoke into his ear.

The woman quickly wrapped his arms around the boy.  _ I really hope Batman was right about this.  _ Alfred rushed from the smoke and joined Selina. Rege struggled against their hold. Batman shot from the smoke and plunged the syringe he had into Rege’s neck. Robin and the others showed up just as the boy sent out a blast of energy and raised into the air. Rege froze and his body began to change. His eyes slowly, painfully returned to their crystal blue. Rege let out a pained cry as the color returned to his skin and the magic was reversed. In a matter of minutes, Rege had returned to being Richard, but he was still levitating. Richard looked at the heroes on the rooftop, tears in his eyes.

“What....” He said quietly. 

With that, he fell and plummeted towards the streets below. Batman shot his grapple and swung from the building's roof. As he swung towards Richard, he stretched his hand out to catch his son. Their fingers brushed.

“NO!” Batman screamed.

Richard crashed into the pavement below. Blood pooled around his body as he laid there. He thought back to his parents.  _ A fitting death for a flying Grayson.  _ His eyes slowly closed.  _ Finally, I’ll get to rest after all the things that have happened. All the pain, betrayals, the occasional happiness. _ The Justice League, Team, and Deathstroke gathered around him. Batman panicked ordering people to do anything to save his son. The last thing Richard felt was being lifted from the pavement, blood dripping from his body. The last thing he heard was Batman yelling.

“He’s my son, damn it! I can’t fail him after I just saved him! I’m taking him to…”

The rest faded out.


	21. Chapter 21

Richard was aware of two things. There was an oxygen mask on his nose and mouth and he was alive. He slowly opened his eyes, the bright light making him turn his head. He groaned and tried to get up or move, but that hurt. A lot. He heard someone get up from a chair or another type of furniture.

“He’s awake…” The voice said quietly before rushed footsteps went away from him and he heard “HE’S AWAKE!”

After that, he heard multiple sets of running footsteps and he willed his eyes open. Surrounding him was a magic barrier of some kind. He wasn’t even laying on anything, just floating in the air. He turned his head towards the footsteps and watched as Batman, followed by others, barged in. He was following Zatana. Zatara sat on the floor in front of him. The man had his eyes closed and was levitating off the ground. Richard painfully moved his hand up to take off the oxygen mask. 

“Richard, don’t move. You may cause more damage. You broke almost all your bones. You’re lucky to be alive.” Black Canary said.

“Screw... that,” Richard said breathlessly as he took it off and cleared his throat. “Zatara put me down... Stop this.”

The ‘I don’t deserve this’ went unsaid, but everyone knew Richard was thinking it. Zatara opened his eyes and slowly, gently put Richard down on the floor. As soon as the magic barrier was gone, the pain hit Richard like a train. He grabbed his throbbing head.

“What... the hell... happened?” Richard breathed out.

“You...You don’t remember?” Robin asked.

“No..I only... remember falling...and Batman and Renegade,” Richard answered.

“You really don’t remember?” Kid Flash asked.

“No,” Richard said, confused.

“Do you know how old you are?” Batman asked.

“I’m...fourteen,” Richard answered, but he doubted it.

It didn’t sound right.

“No, you’re seventeen,” Batman replied.

“What?! No. Wait...no.” Richard stuttered.

Then it came flooding back. Dying, the Court, becoming Rege, being Rege, fighting, getting cured, falling. It overwhelmed Richard. The teen stared at his hands. 

“That’s not possible. That was a dream! None of that really happened!” Richard looked at Batman.

His eyes pleading Batman to tell him it was all a dream. That he never did any of what he just remembered. That he didn’t die. That he wasn’t angry and revenge-hungry because he felt replaced. No such news was delivered.

“Did I really die?” Richard asked quietly.

“Yes.” Black Canary said gently.

“I...Does...Does that mean the rest of it is true as well? The Court? Rege?” Richard asked, eyes wide in horror.

“I’m afraid so.” Black Canary answered as if she were talking to a frightened child.

“Then...why am I still alive? Why did you save me?!” Richard questioned.

“Because we trusted that you were you, the real you,” Batman answered.

It took a few minutes for Richard to process this. 

“I’d like to be alone,” Richard said quietly.

“Well, we can do that, but Zatara has to resume treating you with magic. Ironically, it saved you.” Zatanna said.

“That’s fine, just... I need to think.” Richard responded.

Black Canary walked over and placed the mask back in place and hugged him.

“Good to have you back.” She said quietly and left.

All the other heroes left, leaving Batman with Richard.

“I need you. That’s why I saved you. You are my son.” Batman took off his cowl, “Even if you make mistakes and give in to the evil side of you, you will always be my son.”

Bruce smiled.

“Besides, the other boys need their big brother.”

“Big brother?” Richard scoffed. “I’m not a good role model. I have screwed up so many things. I have fallen from the path you led me on and…” Richard’s eyes filled with tears, “I’ve murdered far too many people to be considered a hero. I cannot be looked up to by them.”

“Richard, they don’t see just your mistakes, even if that’s what you see. They see a boy who has been wronged far too many times, a boy who has fought against evil, a boy who has never given up, and a boy who has always come back. You are a great, valuable idol to them, and they look up to you. Always have. Tim and Jason look up to you as the first Robin. The first son. Don’t you realize how much we care for you?” Bruce said with sadness in his tone.

“You shouldn’t care at all! I’m a murderer! I’m-” Richard started.

“Don’t you dare start beating yourself down!” Bruce yelled.

A heavy silence fell over them. Bruce stepped forwards and wrapped Richard tightly in his arms. The suit’s cape follows his arms and Richard felt like the young boy he used to be wrapped up in Batman’s cape. Richard wrapped his arms around Bruce and clung onto the cape. He buried his head into Bruce’s shoulder and let his tears fall. He sobbed quietly and shook. Bruce just held him. After a few minutes, Richard stopped sobbing but tears still fell from his eyes.

“You are my son and I love you,” Bruce said.

Those eight words meant the world to Richard, and they were the beginning of Richard’s healing. Once Bruce let go of Richard and they stopped hugging, he put his cowl back in place and called in Zatara. If Zatara noticed the wet spots from Richard’s tears on Batman’s shoulder or Richard’s red puffy eyes, he didn’t point it out, which both bats were grateful for.

Zatara restarted his treatment and Richard thought.  _ I have to make this up.  _ He let out a shaky sigh.  _ I've done so many bad things. I have to do good in the world from now on.  _ He began to plan out the next chapter in his life.  _ Other than Gotham, what’s the most crime-infested city? ...Bludhaven, sister city to Gotham. I can’t be Robin anymore.  _ He sighed, his eyes getting heavy.  _ What am I going to do?  _ His eyes closed and breaths evened out as he fell asleep.

Over the next few months, almost a year, Richard trained to regain his strength and recover from the fall. He trained hard and made record time in recovering. During this time, he stayed at the Manor. He bonded with Jason Todd and Tim Drake. Barbara Gordon had been coming around more. He also met Beast Boy, Blue Beetle, Supergirl, and a couple of new proteges. He even helped with the clone Roy Harper and the real Roy Harper, now known as Arsenal. He had good relations with them and planned to keep it that way. Richard and Slade built a healthy relationship now that Slade wasn’t on the bad side, but also not on the good side either. He and Alfred got close again and Richard rebuilt his relationships with the Justice League members. They wanted to place him as leader of the new team, but Richard declined saying Miss Martian and Superboy were much more fit and were still in the hero business. Richard controlled coms and helped when he could, and in no time, all his bones were relatively healed and all that remained were faint bruises and vivid memories.

“So Bludhaven, what do you plan on doing there?” Miss Martian asked as Richard was getting ready to leave for the said city.

Richard turned towards his team: Miss Martian, Superboy, Artemis, Kid Flash, and Aqualad.

“Join the police force. Do what I can to help.” Richard shrugged. 

The original team members now knew his identity, so he didn’t bother with a mask or anything to cover his face.

“What about people? Dick Grayson returning from the dead?” Connor asked.

“Simple, Dick Grayson was found after years of imprisonment and his kidnappers were shot and killed in the police raid. They never found my body, so I was never proven to be dead.” Richard responded.

“Well, knowing you, you’re going to become a vigilante again. What will you go by?” Artemis asked.

Richard grinned. He and Slade had been throwing around ideas for a while. The mercenary had become his best friend, ironically.

“Nightwing.”


End file.
